Objective: To quantitatively evaluate oculomotor dysfunction using video-nystagmography (VNG) in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and determine its association with motor severity, disease duration, and cognitive status.

Background: Parkinson’s disease is characterized by progressive basal ganglia dysfunction affecting voluntary and reflexive eye movements. Quantitative oculomotor assessment using VNG may provide objective biomarkers of disease burden; however, comprehensive clinicophysiological correlations from tertiary-care cohorts remain limited.

Method: In this cross-sectional case–control study, 57 patients with clinically diagnosed PD and 57 age- and sex-matched healthy controls underwent standardized VNG testing. Parameters assessed included saccadic latency, peak velocity, smooth pursuit eye movement (SPEM) gain, and optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) gain (right and left eyes). Clinical assessment included Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale Part III (UPDRS-III), Hoehn & Yahr (H&Y) stage, disease duration, and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Between-group comparisons were performed using independent-samples t-tests. Correlations were analyzed using Pearson’s coefficient. Key findings are summarized in [table1] and [table2].

Results: PD patients demonstrated significantly prolonged saccadic latency and reduced peak velocity compared with controls (p < 0.001). SPEM and OKN gains were significantly reduced bilaterally (p < 0.01). Saccadic latency positively correlated with UPDRS-III scores and disease duration, while SPEM and OKN gains showed inverse correlations with motor severity. Associations with cognitive status were weaker and primarily observed in OKN parameters.

Conclusion: Parkinson’s disease is associated with measurable impairment in voluntary and reflexive oculomotor function. VNG-derived metrics correlate strongly with motor severity, supporting their potential role as objective, non-invasive biomarkers of disease burden.

Table 1. Demographic and Clinical Characteristics

Table 2. VNG Parameters

Table 3. VNG parameters and clinical variables

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/video-nystagmographic-biomarkers-of-oculomotor-dysfunction-in-parkinsons-disease-correlation-with-motor-severity-and-cognition/