[Measurement of pupillary unrest in subjects with nonspecific ophthalmic complaints]

Using a computer-assisted infrared optometer with a pupillometer, we studied pupillary unrest of 20 eyes of 20 patients suffering from nonspecific ophthalmic complaints, and of 20 eyes of 20 normal controls. The patient group had smaller mean pupil area than the control group (29 mm2 vs 38 mm2, p < 0.01), and showed prominent pupillary unrest and increased mean coefficient of variation (CV) of the pupil area (9.2% vs 3.4%, p < 0.001). Frequently, fairly long duration waves (longer than 1 sec) could be seen in the recordings of pupillary unrest in the patient group, but not in the control group. The patient group also showed significantly higher dark focus of accommodation than the control group (1.1 D vs 0.4 D, p < 0.01). These findings suggest that abnormal parasympathetic excitation may play a role in the etiology of continued nonspecific ophthalmic complaints.