The sit-up test, a new evaluation method for differentiating between ocular and orthopaedic torticollis, was evaluated against the monocular occlusion test, using results of three-step testing for standardization. The study group consisted of 31 patients with torticollis between the ages of 4 and 12.5 years. Subjects were selected based only on their ability to cooperate with three-step testing. Three-step testing identified 27 of the 31 patients as having ocular torticollis, with the remaining 4 having an orthopaedic etiology. Sit-up testing correctly identified all 27 ocular torticollis patients, with no false positives or false negatives. Monocular occlusion testing detected at best 22 (81.4%) of the ocular torticollis patients, with no false positives.
To the Editor.—
The varicella virus is a well known cause of ophthalmologic complications in its classic recurrent form of herpes zoster ophthalmicus. Ocular complications may also accompany the primary infection, however, and have been well documented. These conditions include vesicular lid lesions with corresponding irritation, phlyctenular keratoconjunctivitis, superficial punctate keratitis, uveitis, optic neuritis, and external ophthalmoplegia from encephalitic cranial nerve palsies.1,2 Internal ophthalmoplegia, a rare complication affecting pupillary constriction and accommodation, has also been
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