Objective: To evaluate eye movement abnormalities in ET patients in comparison with matched according to age and gender controls and patients with other neurodegenerative disease like PD, SCA and HD and to assess the relations between eye movement abnormalities and other signs as well as course of ET.

Background: Eye movement abnormalities are common sign of many neurodegenerative disease like Parkinson’s disease (PD), spino-cerebellar ataxia (SCA) or Huntington’s disease (HD). Even though essential tremor (ET) is the most prevalent movement disorders, the spectrum of eye movement abnormalities for this disease has not been entirely explored yet.

Methods: Fifty ET and matched according to age and gender 50 PD, 42 SCA, 50 HD patients and 42 healthy controls were included to the study. Saccades were recorded using portable Saccadometer from Ober Consulting Company. EOG (Hortman) was used for recording of smooth pursuit, OKN and fixation.

Results: The study shows that eye movement abnormalities are considerably more common in ET patients than in healthy subjects and their frequency in ET is similar to the other neurodegenerative disease like PD, SCA and HD. The most typical eye movement disturbances in ET are: reflexive saccades dysmetria, smooth pursuit and OKN impairment. In ET patient with concomitant cerebellar signs volitional saccades latency prolongation was additionally detected. The frequency of reflexive saccades dysmetria in ET increases with disease progression.

Conclusions: Eye movement abnormalities are common sign of ET like in other neurodegenerative diseases and their frequency increases with diseases progression.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/eye-movement-abnormalities-in-essential-tremor-and-other-neurodegenerative-diseases-parkinsons-disease-spino-cerebellar-ataxia-huntington-disease/