Saturday, February, 11, 2012

Cranial mononeuropathy III - compression type

Table of Contents

Alternative Names

Third cranial nerve palsy; Oculomotor palsy; Pupil-involving third cranial nerve palsy


Symptoms
  • Double vision
  • Drooping of one eyelid (ptosis)
  • Enlarged pupil that reacts poorly to light
  • Headache or eye pain

Other symptoms may occur if the cause is a tumor or trauma. Decreasing consciousness is a serious sign, because it could indicate brain damage or impending death.


Signs and tests

An eye examination may show:

  • Enlarged (dilated) pupil of the affected eye
  • Eye movement abnormalities
  • Eyes that are not aligned (dysconjugate gaze)

A complete medical and nervous system (neurological) examination is performed to find out if any other parts of the body are affected.

Other tests may include:

  • Blood tests
  • Tests to look at blood vessels to the brain (cerebral angiogram, CT angiogram, or MR angiogram)
  • MRI or CT scan of the brain
  • Spinal tap (lumbar puncture)

You may need to be referred to a doctor who specializes in vision problems related to the nervous system (neuro-ophthalmologist).


Review Date: 06/15/2010
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Daniel B. Hoch, PhD, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)