Vestibular evaluation of the acoustic tumor

[Electrooculographic findings in patients with neurofibromatosis]

Neurofibromatosis are frequent genetic syndromes, with the electrooculographic examination (EOG) as an useful tool in their evaluation. We present the EOG findings of 16 patients with this entity which were seen at our Department between 1969 and 1991. Mean of age was 31 years. Nine patients were female (56%). The most frequent pathologic findings were: spontaneous nystagmus (37.5%) and abnormalities in the pursuit tracking test (31.2%). These results are discussed and the main literature concerning this matter is reviewed.

Cerebellopontine angle tumors: bilateral flocculus compression as cause of associated oculomotor abnormalities

Oculomotor abnormalities of pursuit, OKN, gaze as well as saccade are frequently found in patients with large cerebellopontine angle tumors. Evidence is presented in support of the proposition that bilateral flocculus compression is likely responsible for the majority of oculomotor abnormalities noted in these patients. An hypothesis for the genesis of Bruns' as well as bilateral gaze paretic nystagmus is put forward. Successful tumor removal implies that pursuit and optokinetic nystagmus are more sensitive than the other oculomotor functions to the compressive effects of a cerebellopontine angle mass.