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NEUROLOGY 1987;37:698
© 1987 American Academy of Neurology

Abnormal ocular motor function predicts clinical diagnosis of familial ataxia

J. Thomas Hutton, MD, PhD, J. William Albrecht, PhD, Michael Kuskowski, PhD and Lawrence J. Schut, MD

Department of Medical and Surgical Neurology (Dr. Hutton), Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX the Department of Research Services (Dr. Albrecht), VA Medical Center, Augusta, GA; and the Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (Drs. Kuskowski and Schut), VA Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN.

Ocular motor performance was significantly impaired in familial ataxia patients as compared with normal controls. Ataxic patients showed prolonged saccadic latencies, longer saccadic refixation times, reduced visual tracking performance, and increased saccadic hypermetria. Cutoff values were derived and applied to 15 subjects at risk for developing familial ataxia. Three of 15 showed abnormal values in three or more of four categories of ocular motor performance. Within 3 years, all three subjects were diagnosed on clinical grounds as having familial ataxia. We conclude that ocular motor performance is impaired in familial ataxia and may prove useful for earlier diagnosis.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Hutton, Department of Medical and Surgical Neurology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430.

Presented in part at the thirty-sixth annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, Boston, MA, April 1984.

Received April 8, 1986. Accepted for publication in final form August 12, 1986.