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Home >Eye conditions >Nystagmus

Nystagmus

It is the medical word that describes the rhythmic swing of the eyes.

There are different manifestations of this movement which are within the normal range and do not become pathological. For example, the movement of someone´s eyes looking through the window of a train, car or similar.

About 10 percent of healthy people can make such an eye movement voluntarily, but are involuntary forms of nystagmus which are impossible, or at least very difficult to stop. This is an abnormal nystagmus.

What is congenital nystagmus?

Traditionally nystagmus has been classified into two categories:

Congenital or infantile Nystagmus.
Acquired Nystagmus by some external cause, accident or illness.

There is no clear line that divides these two types.

Acquired Nystagmus might appear from six months old, originated from different visual or neurological problems. Congenital Nystagmus normally occurs in the first six months of age and usually results from a congenital eye problem. Sometimes it may be accompanied by strabismus.
Congenital nystagmus. It means that this condition is present from birth. Although it sometimes happens that the symptoms develop during the first three or four months and sometimes even later.

Which are the causes of nystagmus?

Mainly there are various causes, but two of them are the most common:

Among children who have suffered from strabismus or other visual condition, such a cataract, in one of the eyes during the first months of life. It is unknown why this happens, but may be due to the occlusion of one eye. Therefore, this type of nystagmus is known as Latent Nystagmus, which normally is not a problem when both eyes are open.
The other type of Nystagmus often occurs because of problems in both eyes at birth or thereafter. this type is designated by experts as Congenital Nystagmus, and sometimes special tests are required to distinguish it from the other one.