examination of supranuclear eye movement disorder

Last reviewed 01/2018

The examiner should:

  • sit in front of the patient
  • have a good light on their eyes
  • be methodical, i.e. right, left, up and down Tests:
  • command saccades i.e. "look right"
  • fixation saccades i.e. "look from my thumb to my finger and back again as fast as you can"
  • pursuit eye movements
  • convergence - important to test. In intranuclear ophthalmoplegia it is usually retained, despite the adduction deficit in lateral gaze.
  • Doll's head movements
  • Bell's phenomenon
  • optokinetic response
  • caloric testing