Eyelid movement disorders and motor impersistence in acute hemisphere disease

The aim of this study was to evaluate, in an acutely brain-damaged population, the occurrence of motor impersistence and its relation to the side of lesion. All the patients hospitalized in a 10-month period for a stroke involving one hemisphere and able to cooperate were given, in the early days of illness, a motor impersistence battery requiring the maintenance of a position of eyelids, gaze, mouth, and limbs for 10 seconds. A control group of 50 patients without brain damage provided the basis for evaluating pathologic performance. Failure to keep eyes closed was the most common manifestation of motor impersistence. It sometimes affected the contralateral eye alone, lasted in a few patients for 3 months, and was significantly more frequent after right than left brain damage. Three right brain-damaged (RBD) patients showed a complete inability to initiate lid closure, and one RBD patient a complete inability to initiate lid opening. Impersistence in other somatic areas was more rare.