Objective Vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) can help in assessing otolithic neural pathway in the brainstem, which may also contribute to the cardiovascular autonomic function. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is associated with altered VEMP responses; however, the associations between VEMP abnormalities and multiple system atrophy (MSA) remain unknown. Therefore, we compared the extent of otolith dysfunction using ocular (oVEMP) and cervical VEMPs between patients with MSA and PD.
Methods We analyzed the clinical features, VEMP, and head-up tilt table test (HUT) findings using the Finometer in 24 patients with MSA and 52 with de novo PD who had undergone neurotologic evaluation at a referral-based university hospital in South Korea from January 2021 to March 2023.
Results MSA was associated with bilateral oVEMP abnormalities (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 9.19 [1.77–47.76], p = 0.008). The n1–p1 amplitude was negatively correlated with the Unified Multiple System Atrophy Rating Scale I-II score in patients with MSA (r = -0.571, p = 0.033), whereas it did not correlate with the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale-III score in patients with PD (r = -0.051, p = 0.687). The n1 latency was negatively correlated with maximum changes in systolic blood pressure within 15 s during HUT in patients with PD (r = -0.335, p = 0.040) but not in those with MSA (r = 0.277, p = 0.299).
Conclusion Bilaterally abnormal oVEMP responses may indicate the extent of brainstem dysfunction in MSA. oVEMP reflects the integrity of otolith-autonomic interplay, reliably assists in differentiating between MSA and PD, and helps infer clinical decline.
Abnormal eye movements are commonly observed in movement disorders. Ocular motility examination should include bedside evaluation and laboratory recording of ocular misalignment, involuntary eye movements, including nystagmus and saccadic intrusions/oscillations, triggered nystagmus, saccades, smooth pursuit (SP), and the vestibulo-ocular reflex. Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) mostly show hypometric saccades, especially for the selfpaced saccades, and impaired SP. Early vertical saccadic palsy is characteristic of progressive supranuclear palsy-Richardson’s syndrome. Patients with cortico-basal syndrome typically show a delayed onset of saccades. Downbeat and gaze-evoked nystagmus and hypermetric saccades are characteristic ocular motor findings in ataxic disorders due to cerebellar dysfunction. In this review, we discuss various ocular motor findings in movement disorders, including PD and related disorders, ataxic syndromes, and hyperkinetic movement disorders. Systemic evaluation of the ocular motor functions may provide valuable information for early detection and monitoring of movement disorders, despite an overlap in the abnormal eye movements among different movement disorders.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
The semicircular canal function is preserved with little impact on falls in patients with mild Parkinson's disease Jun-Pyo Hong, Hanim Kwon, Euyhyun Park, Sun-Uk Lee, Chan-Nyoung Lee, Byung-Jo Kim, Ji-Soo Kim, Kun-Woo Park Parkinsonism & Related Disorders.2024; 118: 105933. CrossRef
Abnormal Ocular Movement in the Early Stage of Multiple-System Atrophy With Predominant Parkinsonism Distinct From Parkinson’s Disease Hong Zhou, Luhua Wei, Yanyan Jiang, Xia Wang, Yunchuang Sun, Fan Li, Jing Chen, Wei Sun, Lin Zhang, Guiping Zhao, Zhaoxia Wang Journal of Clinical Neurology.2024; 20(1): 37. CrossRef
Clinical value of video oculomotor evaluation in the differential diagnosis of multiple system atrophy and Parkinson's disease Dongxiao Zhou, Qian Ma, Haiwei Huang, Xue Xu Brain and Behavior.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Advancements in eye movement measurement technologies for assessing neurodegenerative diseases Tali G. Band, Rotem Z. Bar-Or, Edmund Ben-Ami Frontiers in Digital Health.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Naturalistic Eye Movement Tasks in Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review Melissa C. Gibbs, Jenna Huxley, Megan Rose Readman, Megan Polden, Oliver Bredemeyer, Trevor J. Crawford, Chrystalina A. Antoniades Journal of Parkinson's Disease.2024; 14(7): 1369. CrossRef
Smartphone video nystagmography using convolutional neural networks: ConVNG Maximilian U. Friedrich, Erich Schneider, Miriam Buerklein, Johannes Taeger, Johannes Hartig, Jens Volkmann, Robert Peach, Daniel Zeller Journal of Neurology.2023; 270(5): 2518. CrossRef
Midbrain and pons MRI shape analysis and its clinical and CSF correlates in degenerative parkinsonisms: a pilot study C. Painous, S. Pascual-Diaz, E. Muñoz-Moreno, V. Sánchez, JC. Pariente, A. Prats-Galino, M. Soto, M. Fernández, A. Pérez-Soriano, A. Camara, E. Muñoz, F. Valldeoriola, N. Caballol, C. Pont-Sunyer, N. Martin, M. Basora, M. Tio, J. Rios, MJ. Martí, N. Barga European Radiology.2023; 33(7): 4540. CrossRef
Saw-tooth vertical saccades in progressive supranuclear palsy Min-Ku Kim, Dongje Lee, Xu Yang, Hyo-Jung Kim, Jeong‑Yoon Choi, Ji-Soo Kim Journal of Neurology.2023; 270(7): 3644. CrossRef
Non-Verbal Social Skills Assessment in Rett Syndrome: a Systematic Review Xin-yan Zhang, Karen Spruyt Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Spinocerebellar ataxia type 14 (SCA14) in an Argentinian family: a case report Niharika Duggirala, Kathie J. Ngo, Sabrina M. Pagnoni, Alberto L. Rosa, Brent L. Fogel Journal of Medical Case Reports.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Abnormal eye movements in Parkinson's disease: From experimental study to clinical application Han Li, Xue Zhang, Yong Yang, Anmu Xie Parkinsonism & Related Disorders.2023; 115: 105791. CrossRef
Oculomotor Abnormalities in a Sheep (Ovis aries) Model of Huntington’s Disease: Towards a Biomarker for Assessing Therapeutic Efficacy Sebastian D. McBride, Jan Ober, Jacek Dylak, William Schneider, A. Jennifer Morton Journal of Huntington's Disease.2023; 12(3): 189. CrossRef
Head-impulse tests aid in differentiation of multiple system atrophy from Parkinson’s disease Jae-Gyum Kim, Sung-Hwan Kim, Sun-Uk Lee, Chan-Nyoung Lee, Byung-Jo Kim, Ji-Soo Kim, Kun-Woo Park Journal of Neurology.2022; 269(6): 2972. CrossRef
Overt Oculomotor Behavior Reveals Covert Temporal Predictions Alessandro Tavano, Sonja A. Kotz Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Eye tracking identifies biomarkers in α-synucleinopathies versus progressive supranuclear palsy Mahboubeh Habibi, Wolfgang H. Oertel, Brian J. White, Donald C. Brien, Brian C. Coe, Heidi C. Riek, Julia Perkins, Rachel Yep, Laurent Itti, Lars Timmermann, Christoph Best, Elisabeth Sittig, Annette Janzen, Douglas P. Munoz Journal of Neurology.2022; 269(9): 4920. CrossRef
A Case of AOA2 With Compound Heterozygous SETX Mutations Hee Jin Chang, Ryul Kim, Minchae Kim, Jangsup Moon, Man Jin Kim, Han-Joon Kim Journal of Movement Disorders.2022; 15(2): 178. CrossRef
Reading Warm-Up, Reading Skill, and Reading Prosody When Reading the My Grandfather Passage: An Exploratory Study Born Out of the Motor Planning Theory of Prosody and Reading Prosody Research Frank Boutsen, Eunsun Park, Justin D. Dvorak Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.2022; 65(6): 2047. CrossRef
Eye movement abnormalities in neurodegenerative langerhans cell histiocytosis Lila Autier, Bertrand Gaymard, Eléonore Bayen, Antoine Del Cul, Fleur Cohen-Aubart, Nadine Martin-Duverneuil, Julien Haroche, Karima Mokhtari, Sébastien Héritier, Jean Donadieu, Khê Hoang-Xuan, Ahmed Idbaih Neurological Sciences.2022; 43(11): 6539. CrossRef
Multiple step saccades in simply reactive saccades could serve as a complementary biomarker for the early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease Wenbo Ma, Min Li, Junru Wu, Zhihao Zhang, Fangfang Jia, Mingsha Zhang, Hagai Bergman, Xuemei Li, Zhipei Ling, Xin Xu Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
The effects of age and sex on the incidence of multiple step saccades and corrective saccades Wenbo Ma, Mingsha Zhang Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
Oculomotor impairments in de novo Parkinson’s disease Meng-Xi Zhou, Qin Wang, Yin Lin, Qian Xu, Li Wu, Ya-Jing Chen, Yu-Han Jiang, Qing He, Lei Zhao, You-Rong Dong, Jian-Ren Liu, Wei Chen Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
A Story of Discovery and Change: What We Learned from Studying Nystagmus in Infancy and Childhood Richard W. Hertle Journal of Binocular Vision and Ocular Motility.2022; 72(3): 113. CrossRef
Swabhava Vipratipatti Adhyaya of Sushruta Sutra Sthana - An Explorative Study Prasad Mamidi, Kshama Gupta Journal of Integrated Health Sciences.2022; 10(1): 22. CrossRef
Eye movement especially vertical oculomotor impairment as an aid to assess Parkinson’s disease JianYuan Zhang, Bin Zhang, QingGuo Ren, Qing Zhong, Ye Li, GuoTao Liu, XiaoTian Ma, CuiPing Zhao Neurological Sciences.2021; 42(6): 2337. CrossRef
Abnormalities of smooth pursuit in Parkinson’s disease: A systematic review Karen Frei Clinical Parkinsonism & Related Disorders.2021; 4: 100085. CrossRef
Central nystagmus in progressive supranuclear palsy: A neglected clinical feature? Maja Klarendic, Manja Hribar, Nina Bozanic Urbancic, Nina Zupancic, Milica G. Kramberger, Maja Trost, Saba Battelino, Diego Kaski, Maja Kojovic Parkinsonism & Related Disorders.2021; 84: 15. CrossRef
Analysis of vertical eye movements in Parkinson’s disease and its potential for diagnosis Sajjad Farashi Applied Intelligence.2021; 51(11): 8260. CrossRef
Abnormal eye movements in parkinsonism: a historical view Tereza Ko, Augusto Mädke Brenner, Nicholas Pili Monteiro, Mariana Severo Debastiani, Alberto Chitolina Nesello, Arlete Hilbig Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria.2021; 79(5): 457. CrossRef
Morphological classification and changes in dementia (Review) Alexandra Tudor, Antonia Vasile, Simona Trifu, Mihai Cristea Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine.2021;[Epub] CrossRef
Ophthalmological findings in movement disorders Sahil Mehta, Aastha Takkar, Sucharita Ray, Vivek Lal Annals of Movement Disorders.2021; 4(1): 10. CrossRef
BCAP31-related syndrome: The first de novo report Berardo Rinaldi, Evelien Van Hoof, Anniek Corveleyn, Annick Van Cauter, Thomy de Ravel European Journal of Medical Genetics.2020; 63(2): 103732. CrossRef
Hypomania and saccadic changes in Parkinson’s disease: influence of D2 and D3 dopaminergic signalling Esther A. Pelzer, Barbara Dillenburger, Sophie Grundmann, Vladimir Iliaev, Sophie Aschenberg, Corina Melzer, Martin Hess, Gereon R. Fink, Carsten Eggers, Marc Tittgemeyer, Lars Timmermann npj Parkinson's Disease.2020;[Epub] CrossRef
Management of Visual Dysfunction in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease Joseph Savitt, Rachid Aouchiche, Bastiaan R. Bloem, Patrik Brundin Journal of Parkinson's Disease.2020; 10(s1): S49. CrossRef
Ocular motor manifestations of movement disorders Grace F. Crotty, Bart K. Chwalisz Current Opinion in Ophthalmology.2019; 30(6): 443. CrossRef