eMedicine Specialties > Ophthalmology > Extraocular Muscles

Trochlear Nerve Palsy: Treatment

Author: Zafar A Sheik, MD, Director, Department of Ophthalmology, St Joseph's Medical Center
Coauthor(s): Kelly A Hutcheson, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, George Washington University School of Medicine, Children's National Medical Center,
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Jun 8, 2009

Treatment

Medical Therapy

Prisms may be used for patients with small deviations and diplopia without torsional component. Incomitance of deviation often limits usefulness of this therapy.

Botulinum toxin also has been studied in treatment of fourth nerve palsy.¹⁶ It is a neuromuscular agent that acts presynaptically to block neurotransmitter release and results in muscle weakening. Use of this agent as primary therapy for fourth nerve palsy has been discouraging. However, it may be used best to correct residual deviation after strabismus surgery to delay or avoid further surgery.

BOTOX® is purified botulinum toxin A, derived from a culture of the Hall strain of Clostridium botulinum. It acts by binding to receptor sites on motor nerve terminals and inhibiting the release of acetylcholine. BOTOX® may be used for the treatment of strabismus and blepharospasm in patients 12 years and older. It is pregnancy category C.

Side effects for use in strabismus include ptosis and vertical deviation by action at extraocular muscles close to the site of injection. Injection should be performed under direct visualization during a surgical procedure or with the aid of electromyography.

Each vial of BOTOX® contains 100 units of botulinum toxin A in a vacuum-dried form. It needs to be reconstituted using preservative free 0.9% sodium chloride as the diluent. Doses used in strabismus range from 1.25-5 units, depending on the amount of deviation.

Surgical Therapy

In 1970s, Knapp developed a surgical approach for superior oblique palsy.¹ He classified superior oblique palsy by determining field of gaze in which deviation was greatest. Based on this classification, he recommended operation on the muscle or muscles that acted in this direction of gaze.

Plager described a tailored treatment plan that evolved from Knapp's recommendations, with some additions based on more recent operative algorithms.¹⁷ For a deviation of less than 15 prism diopters, single muscle surgery may suffice. If there is any inferior oblique overaction, inferior oblique weakening by myectomy or recession is the procedure of choice. Without any evidence of inferior oblique overaction, another muscle may be chosen. In case of ipsilateral superior rectus restriction, a superior rectus recession would be indicated. Superior oblique tendon tuck is preferred if significant tendon laxity is present, as has been described in congenital cases. Contralateral inferior rectus recession is chosen if there is no evidence of superior rectus restriction or superior oblique tendon laxity. This is an especially useful procedure when deviation is greatest in downgaze.

For deviation greater than 15 prism diopters, 2-3 muscle surgeries probably will be required. Two muscle surgery generally includes weakening of ipsilateral inferior oblique, as well as a procedure on ipsilateral superior rectus, superior oblique, or contralateral inferior rectus. For large deviations, 3-muscle surgery should be considered. Inferior oblique and contralateral inferior rectus should be weakened. Then, the surgeon may choose to operate on superior oblique or superior rectus, based on intraoperative findings.

Modified Harada-Ito procedure is useful for patients with large excyclotorsional deviation. This is likely to be the case for patients with bilateral superior oblique palsy, and bilateral surgery should be performed.¹⁸ In this procedure, the superior oblique tendon is split and anterior fibers are advanced anteriorly and laterally.

Preoperative Details

• Careful assessment of deviation in all fields of gaze should be performed.
• Multiple measurements should be taken to ensure that deviations are stable.
• Ductions should be evaluated to determine if there is inferior oblique overaction.¹⁹
• Presence of V-pattern esotropia is highly suggestive of bilateral superior oblique palsy.
• It may not be possible to determine if there is superior rectus restriction in clinic, and this test may be performed in operating suite.
• Photographs that show head position and ocular motility findings, including head tilts, are useful for documentation.
• Infants presenting with torticollis may be suspected of having superior oblique palsy.
• To differentiate true cases of strabismus from neuromuscular causes of torticollis, patch test may be performed in the office. After 20 minutes of monocular occlusion, the child is reevaluated, still wearing the patch. If head tilt was adopted for fusional purposes, it will be reduced after patching.
• There is a low risk of amblyopia in affected children presumably because they can achieve intermittent fusion by using head tilt and large fusional amplitudes. Loss of compensatory head position by a child suggests loss of fusion and may be associated with development of amblyopia.

Intraoperative Details

Patients with congenital superior oblique palsy often have abnormally lax superior oblique tendon. Exaggerated, forced duction test described by Guyton can be performed intraoperatively to determine if there is any degree of tendon laxity relative to normal eye.²⁰

• This test is performed by grasping the eye obliquely at 2- and 8-o'clock positions for the left eye and at 4- and 10-o'clock positions for the right eye.
• Eye is rotated superiorly and medially while simultaneously depressing the eye into the orbit. This places superior oblique tendon on maximal tension.
• Eye is rolled back and forth over the tendon to ascertain its tension.
• Performing this test prior to the start of case will guide the surgeon to determine eyes that will benefit from a superior oblique tendon tuck.
• Of equal importance is that it will identify those patients who are at risk for developing a postoperative Brown syndrome.
• Tendon tucks should be performed only for markedly lax tendons. Tuck should be enough to match tension of the normal eye's tendon.

Any surgeon who performs oblique muscle surgery should be familiar with anatomy, landmarks, and appropriate approaches to these muscles.

Visualization is more difficult than with rectus muscle surgery, and injury to adjacent nerves, blood vessels, and other extraocular muscles may occur. Use of headlight can improve visualization.

Postoperative Details

• Without careful preoperative assessment, bilateral asymmetric superior oblique palsy may be mistaken for unilateral palsy. After surgery for unilateral palsy, contralateral superior oblique weakness becomes unmasked; unfortunately, then, a second surgery is required.
• Patients with torsional complaints are among the most difficult to treat.
  • In general, patients can fuse up to about 8° of cyclotropia before becoming symptomatic.
  • Patients with bilateral fourth nerve palsies from head trauma should be warned about the likelihood of persistent diplopia after surgery.
  • Many of these patients also may have central disruption of trauma from severe head injury and will be unable to fuse even after excellent surgical alignment.

Complications

• As with any strabismus surgery, undercorrections and overcorrections may occur. It is generally better to undercorrect a patient than to overcorrect a patient.
• For patients with long-standing disease and large fusional amplitudes, a small residual deviation may be perfectly well controlled, but an overcorrection will be intolerable.
• Adjustable suture surgery minimizes risk of overcorrection and undercorrection.
• Perhaps the most troublesome complication is that of iatrogenic Brown syndrome, resulting in severe limitation of elevation.²¹ Assessing superior oblique tendon intraoperatively should make this less likely.

• Search for CME/CE on This Topic »