Background and Purpose The findings of ophthalmic examinations have not been systematically investigated in visual snow syndrome. This study reviewed the abnormal neuroophthalmologic findings in a patient cohort with symptoms of visual snow syndrome. Methods We retrospectively reviewed 28 patients who were referred for symptoms of visual snow to a tertiary referral hospital from November 2016 to October 2019. We defined the findings of best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), visual field testing, pupillary light reflex, contrast sensitivity, full-field and multifocal electroretinography, and optical coherence tomography. Results Twenty patients (71%) were finally diagnosed as visual snow syndrome. Their additional visual symptoms included illusionary palinopsia (61%), enhanced entoptic phenomenon (65%), disturbance of night vision (44%), and photophobia (65%). A history of migraine was identified in ten patients (50%). The mean BCVA was less than 0.1 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution, and electrophysiology showed normal retinal function in all patients. Contrast sensitivity was decreased in two of the seven patients tested. Medical treatment was applied to five patients which all turned out to be ineffective. Among the eight patients who were excluded, one was diagnosed with rod-cone dystrophy and another with idiopathic intracranial hypertension. Conclusions Neuro-ophthalmologic findings are mostly normal in patients with visual snow syndrome. Retinal or neurological diseases must be excluded as possible causes of visual snow.
This article provides an update on tinnitus for audiologists and other clinicians who provide tinnitus-specific services. Tinnitus can be attributable to hearing loss, somatosensory system dysfunction, or auditory cortex dysfunction, with hearing loss being the most common cause and serious underlying pathologies being rare. Hearing loss does not always lead to tinnitus, and patients with tinnitus do not always suffer from hearing loss. The first scenario is explained by a so-called inhibitory gating mechanism, whereas the second assumes that all tinnitus sufferers have some degree of hearing impairment, which might not be detected in standard audiological examinations. The treatments should aim at symptomatic relief and management of associated distress. Current treatment options include pharmacotherapy, education, counseling, cognitive behavioral therapy, and sound therapy.
Discriminating strokes in patients with acute dizziness/vertigo is challenging especially when other symptoms and signs of central nervous involvements are not evident. Despite the developments in imaging technology over the decades, a significant proportion of acute strokes may escape detection on imaging especially during the acute phase or when the lesions are small. Thus, small strokes causing isolated dizziness/vertigo would have a higher chance of misdiagnosis in the emergency department. Even though several diagnostic algorithms have been advanced for acute vascular vertigo, we still await more comprehensive and sophisticated ones that can also be applied to transient vestibular symptoms due to vascular compromise. In this respect, vascular and perfusion imaging would be informative. Application of artificial intelligence and tele-consultation may be future perspectives for real-time decision in acute dizziness and vertigo. Several new constellations of ocular motor and vestibular findings have been added to the strokes involving the brainstem and cerebellum. Defining these characteristics would help understanding the function of central vestibular structures and allow more accurate localization of the strokes involving these structures.
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