Nystagmus
My 1½ year old daughter has been diagnosed with nystagmus. What treatment should she receive?
Nystagmus (shaky eyes) is known to occur, although uncommonly, in CdLS. The cause is unknown and there is usually no complete treatment. However it is important to get a full eye exam to make sure there is nothing specifically wrong with the eyes that is causing this. If eye exam is normal, your doctor may or may not want to do an x-ray of your child’s brain (this is usually not necessary if the neurologic examination is otherwise unremarkable). Also, wearing glasses if needed, or surgery to make the eyes aligned straight, if needed, can be helpful in reducing (but not eliminating) the nystagmus. These only work if the child has a need for glasses (farsighted, nearsighted, astigmatism) or has misaligned eyes (strabismus, crossed eyes etc).
AL/ TK 7-13-10
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