Eye motility dysfunction after soft-tissue injury of the cervical spine: A controlled, prospective study of 38 patients

Abstract

We investigated eye motility prospectively in 40 patients with a soft-tissue injury of the cervical spine. The initial oculomotor test, performed within 3 months, was pathologic in 8 patients. The follow-up test in 38 patients, on average 15 months after the accident, remained pathologic in the 8 patients and 5 additional patients had changed from normal to pathologic test results. At follow-up, all the 13 patients with oculomotor dysfunction had persisting symptoms, while 5 of the 25 cases with normal test results still were symptomatic.