Horizontal rectus muscle tenotomy in children with infantile nystagmus syndrome: a pilot study

We wished to determine the effectiveness of horizontal rectus tenotomy in changing the nystagmus of children with infantile nystagmus syndrome.

This was a prospective, noncomparative, interventional case series in five children with varied sensory and oculographic subtypes of congenital nystagmus (including asymmetric (a)periodic alternating nystagmus) and no nystagmus treatment options. Simple tenotomy of all four horizontal recti with reattachment at the original insertion was accomplished. Search-coil and infrared eye movement recordings and clinical examinations were performed before and 1, 6, 26, and 52 weeks after surgery. Outcome measures included masked pre- and postoperative expanded nystagmus acuity function (NAFX), foveation time obtained directly from ocular motility recordings, and masked measures of visual acuity.

At 1 year after tenotomy and under binocular conditions, two of the three patients for whom the NAFX could be measured had persistent, significant postoperative increases in the NAFX of their fixating eye. Average foveation times increased in these patients' fixating eyes. Measured binocular visual acuity increased in four patients; the remaining patient had retinal dystrophy. There were no adverse events due to surgery.

In the two children who could fixate the targets for several seconds and for whom we could obtain accurate measurements of their infantile nystagmus, tenotomy resulted in significant improvements in nystagmus foveation measures. In those patients plus two others (four of five), measured visual function improved.