Visual symptoms in postural tachycardia syndrome: An investigation of position-dependent visual exploration

Patients with postural tachycardia syndrome report position-dependent visual symptoms. Despite their impact on daily life, these symptoms have remained largely unexplored in research. The aim of this study was to investigate the nature of visual symptoms in postural tachycardia syndrome and possible underlying pathophysiological mechanisms.

Fifteen patients with postural tachycardia syndrome and 15 healthy controls were included in the study. Through a comprehensive array of measurements, including haemodynamics, subjective symptom assessments, eye movement tracking and pupil diameter analysis, participants were assessed during free image exploration in both supine and 60° head-up tilt positions.

During head-up tilt, patients showed a decreased number and duration of fixations, as well as a decreased number, peak velocity and amplitude of saccades compared to the supine position and the control group. This reduction in visual exploration occurred primarily in the peripheral field of view and coincided with the occurrence of subjective visual symptoms. No significant differences in the saccade main sequence were observed between the two groups in either body position.

Patients with postural tachycardia syndrome have a reduced exploration of the peripheral field of view when in an upright body position, potentially leading to tunnel vision. Since the normality of the saccade main sequence in patients combined with the focus on the centre of the field of view and the lower saccade amplitudes points to an intact brainstem function, the decrease in peripheral visual exploration may be attributed to a position-dependent dysfunction of the frontal eye field.