Dataset Information

Dizziness and Convergence Insufficiency in Children: Screening and Management.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

In children screened for dizziness with vergence disorders, we tested short and long term efficacy of orthoptic vergence training (OVT) and instructions to reduce screen usage.

Methods

Prospective study: Of the 179 children referred for vertigo or dizziness (over 3 years) with ophthalmological disorder as the only problem after complete oto-neuro-vestibular testing, 69 presented vergence insufficiency, and 49 accepted to participate in this study. 109 healthy children served as controls. All subjects had classic orthoptic evaluation and video binocular movement recordings during various oculomotor tasks. Patients were evaluated before OVT (M0), 3 months after the end of OVT (M3) and 9 months after the end of OVT (M9). Statistics compared orthoptic and oculomotor parameters between patients and controls over time with one-way ANCOVA, and mixed models, controlling for age and gender.

Results

Patients reported vertigo that was usually rotatory, lasting <15 min, associated with or alternating with headache (50%). Their exposure to small video screens and TV was intensive (?3.6 h per day). At M0, all orthoptic and oculomotor parameters were statistically different in patients relative to controls (p < 0.0001) except for divergence. At M3, vertigo symptoms had disappeared in all of the patients, and all eye movement parameters improved significantly (p < 0.0001). At M9, this improvement remained stable or continued.

Conclusion

Vergence disorders (assessed by abnormal orthoptic and oculomotor parameters) can generate symptoms of dizziness in children. Orthoptic treatment and instruction to reduce screen usage has a significant and long term effect on vertigo symptoms as well as oculomotor performances. Dizzy children should be screened for vergence disorders.

What this study adds

Dizziness in children can be associated exclusively with insufficient convergence. Orthoptic training and instructions to reduce screen exposure made dizziness symptoms disappear and improved all eye movement parameters for 6 months. Vergence disorders should be screened for in dizzy children.

SUBMITTER: Wiener-Vacher SR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6636600 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Dizziness and Convergence Insufficiency in Children: Screening and Management.

Wiener-Vacher Sylvette R SR Wiener Sidney I SI Ajrezo Layla L Obeid Rima R Mohamed Damir D Boizeau Priscilla P Alberti Corinne C Bucci Maria Pia MP

Frontiers in integrative neuroscience 20190710

<h4>Objective</h4>In children screened for dizziness with vergence disorders, we tested short and long term efficacy of orthoptic vergence training (OVT) and instructions to reduce screen usage.<h4>Methods</h4>Prospective study: Of the 179 children referred for vertigo or dizziness (over 3 years) with ophthalmological disorder as the only problem after complete oto-neuro-vestibular testing, 69 presented vergence insufficiency, and 49 accepted to participate in this study. 109 healthy children se ...[more]

PMID: 31354441

Similar Datasets

Project description:PurposeTo investigate symptom patterns and evaluate the relationship between patient characteristics and symptom severity before and after treatment for symptomatic children with convergence insufficiency (CI).MethodsIn a randomized clinical trial, the convergence insufficiency symptom survey was administered pre- and posttreatment to 221 children aged 9 to <18 years with symptomatic CI. Frequency of symptom type was determined at baseline, mean change in performance-related vs. eye-related symptoms for treatment responders was compared, and the relationship between patient characteristics and symptom severity at baseline for the entire cohort and after treatment for those who responded to treatment was determined.ResultsAt baseline, the score for performance-related symptoms was greater than that for eye-related symptoms (mean response of 2.3 vs. 1.8, p < 0.001) regardless of age, sex, race/ethnicity, or presence of parent-reported Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Symptom severity increased with age for both the overall and eye-related subscale scores (p = 0.048, p = 0.022, respectively). Children with parent-reported ADHD were more symptomatic (p = 0.005) than those without parent-reported ADHD because of a higher performance-related score (p < 0.001). A significant and equal improvement (p < 0.01) for the performance- and eye-related symptoms was found in treatment responders. Girls had significantly lower performance-related symptoms than boys (p = 0.014), and black children reported less eye-related symptoms than white children (p = 0.022). Children without parent-reported ADHD had significantly less symptoms overall and less eye-related symptoms than children with parent-reported ADHD (p = 0.019, p = 0.011, respectively).ConclusionsBecause of a high frequency of both performance- and eye-related symptoms, clinicians should perform a targeted history that addresses both types of symptoms to help identify children with symptomatic CI. Future study regarding the relationship of CI and symptoms and their potential influence on ADHD, reading performance, and attention is warranted.

Project description:SignificanceThese data confirm the effectiveness of office-based vergence/accommodative therapy for improving convergence in children with symptomatic convergence insufficiency. They also highlight the importance of using a primary outcome measure that is as objective as possible rather than relying solely on self-reported symptoms for studies of binocular vision in children.PurposeThe purpose of this study was to report changes in clinical signs and symptoms of convergence insufficiency (secondary outcome measures) from a multicenter clinical trial (Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial-Attention & Reading Trial [CITT-ART]) evaluating the effectiveness of vergence/accommodative therapy for improving reading and attention in children with symptomatic convergence insufficiency.MethodsThree hundred eleven children aged 9 to 14 years with symptomatic convergence insufficiency were randomly assigned to 16 weeks of office-based vergence/accommodative therapy or to placebo therapy. Improvements in (1) near point of convergence (NPC), (2) positive fusional vergence (PFV), and (3) self-reported symptoms (Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey [CISS] score) were compared after 16 weeks of treatment.ResultsMean NPC improved 10.4 cm in the vergence/accommodative and 6.2 cm in the placebo therapy group (mean difference of -4.2 cm [95% confidence interval {CI}, -5.2 to -3.2 cm; P < .001]); mean PFV increased 23.2 and 8.8Δ in the vergence/accommodative and placebo therapy groups, respectively (mean difference of 14.4Δ [95% CI, 12.1 to 16.8Δ; P < .001]). The mean CISS score improved 11.8 and 10.4 points in the vergence/accommodative and placebo therapy groups, respectively (mean difference of 1.5 points [95% CI, -3.8 to +0.8 points; P = .21]).ConclusionsOur results demonstrate that office-based vergence/accommodative therapy is effective for improving the NPC and PFV in children with symptomatic convergence insufficiency. However, given that both treatment groups had a similar reduction in self-reported symptoms, it may not be prudent to use the CISS alone as a measure of successful treatment.

Project description:PurposeTo assess the long-term stability of improvements in symptoms and signs in 9- to 17-year-old children enrolled in the Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial who were asymptomatic after treatment for convergence insufficiency.MethodsSeventy-nine patients who were asymptomatic after a 12-week therapy program for convergence insufficiency were followed for 1 year [33/60 in office-based vergence/accommodative therapy (OBVAT), 18/54 in home-based pencil push-ups (HBPP), 12/57 in home-based computer vergence/accommodative therapy and pencil push-ups (HBCVAT+), and 16/54 in office-based placebo therapy (OBPT)]. Symptoms and clinical signs were measured 6 months and 1 year after completion of the 12-week therapy program. The primary outcome measure was the mean change on the Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey (CISS). Secondary outcome measures were near point of convergence, positive fusional vergence at near, and proportions of patients who remained asymptomatic or who were classified as successful or improved based on a composite measure of CISS, near point of convergence, and positive fusional vergence.ResultsOne-year follow-up visit completion rate was 89% with no significant differences between groups (p = 0.26). There were no significant changes in the CISS in any treatment group during the 1-year follow-up. The percentage who remained asymptomatic in each group was 84.4% (27/32) for OBVAT, 66.7% (10/15) for HBPP, 80% (8/10) for HBCVAT+, and 76.9% (10/13) for OBPT. The percentage who remained either successful or improved 1-year posttreatment was 87.5% (28/32) for OBVAT, 66.6% (10/15) for HBPP, 80% (8/10) for HBCVAT+, and 69.3% (9/13) for OBPT.ConclusionsMost children aged 9 to 17 years who were asymptomatic after a 12-week treatment program of OBVAT for convergence insufficiency maintained their improvements in symptoms and signs for at least 1 year after discontinuing treatment. Although the sample sizes for the home-based and placebo groups were small, our data suggest that a similar outcome can be expected for children who were asymptomatic after treatment with HBPP or HBCVAT+.

Project description:SignificanceDeficits of disparity divergence found with objective eye movement recordings may not be apparent with standard clinical measures of negative fusional vergence (NFV) in children with symptomatic convergence insufficiency.PurposeThis study aimed to determine whether NFV is normal in untreated children with symptomatic convergence insufficiency and whether NFV improves after vergence/accommodative therapy.MethodsThis secondary analysis of NFV measures before and after office-based vergence/accommodative therapy reports changes in (1) objective eye movement recording responses to 4° disparity divergence step stimuli from 12 children with symptomatic convergence insufficiency compared with 10 children with normal binocular vision (NBV) and (2) clinical NFV measures in 580 children successfully treated in three Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial studies.ResultsAt baseline, the Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial cohort's mean NFV break (14.6 ± 4.8Δ) and recovery (10.6 ± 4.2Δ) values were significantly greater (P < .001) than normative values. The post-therapy mean improvements for blur, break, and recovery of 5.2, 7.2, and 1.3Δ, respectively, were statistically significant (P < .0001). Mean pre-therapy responses to 4° disparity divergence step stimuli were worse in the convergence insufficiency group compared with the NBV group for peak velocity (P < .001), time to peak velocity (P = .01), and response amplitude (P < .001). After therapy, the convergence insufficiency group showed statistically significant improvements in mean peak velocity (11.63°/s; 95% confidence interval [CI], 6.6 to 16.62°/s), time to peak velocity (-0.12 seconds; 95% CI, -0.19 to -0.05 seconds), and response amplitude (1.47°; 95% CI, 0.83 to 2.11°), with measures no longer statistically different from the NBV cohort (P > .05).ConclusionsDespite clinical NFV measurements that seem greater than normal, children with symptomatic convergence insufficiency may have deficient NFV when measured with objective eye movement recordings. Both objective and clinical measures of NFV can be improved with vergence/accommodative therapy.

Project description:PurposeTo determine whether coexisting accommodative dysfunction in children with symptomatic convergence insufficiency (CI) impacts presenting clinical convergence measures, symptoms and treatment success for CI.MethodsSecondary data analyses of monocular accommodative amplitude (AA; push-up method), monocular accommodative facility (AF; ±2.00 D lens flippers) and symptoms (CI Symptom Survey [CISS]) in children with symptomatic CI from the Convergence Insufficiency Treatment Trial (N = 218) and CITT-Attention and Reading Trial (N = 302) were conducted. Decreased AA was defined as more than 2D below the minimum expected amplitude for age (15 - ¼ age); those with AA < 5 D were excluded. Decreased AF was defined as <6 cycles per minute. Mean near point of convergence (NPC), near positive fusional vergence (PFV) and symptoms (CISS) were compared between those with and without accommodative dysfunction using analysis of variance and independent samples t-testing. Logistic regression was used to compare the effect of baseline accommodative function on treatment success [defined using a composite of improvements in: (1) clinical convergence measures and symptoms (NPC, PFV and CISS scores) or (2) solely convergence measures (NPC and PFV)].ResultsAccommodative dysfunction was common in children with symptomatic CI (55% had decreased AA; 34% had decreased AF). NPC was significantly worse in those with decreased AA (mean difference = 6.1 cm; p < 0.001). Mean baseline CISS scores were slightly worse in children with coexisting accommodative dysfunction (decreased AA or AF) (30.2 points) than those with normal accommodation (26.9 points) (mean difference = 3.3 points; p < 0.001). Neither baseline accommodative function (p ≥ 0.12 for all) nor interaction of baseline accommodative function and treatment (p ≥ 0.50) were related to treatment success based on the two composite outcomes.ConclusionsA coexisting accommodative dysfunction in children with symptomatic CI is associated with worse NPC, but it does not impact the severity of symptoms in a clinically meaningful way. Concurrent accommodative dysfunction does not impact treatment response for CI.

Dataset Information

Dizziness and Convergence Insufficiency in Children: Screening and Management.

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusion

What this study adds

Publications

Dizziness and Convergence Insufficiency in Children: Screening and Management.

Similar Datasets

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