The clinical significance of Tournay's pupillary phenomenon

The act of lateral gaze in some normal individuals causes the pupil of the adducting eye to be smaller than that of the abducting eye. This phenomenon was described by Tournay more than 70 years ago, but it has generally been considered to have no clinical significance. We discuss two situations, episodic anisocoria and aberrant regeneration of the third nerve, in which Tournay's phenomenon should be considered by the clinician. We also describe familial occurrence of this interesting pupillary variant.