RESUMEN
Retinal haemorrhages are an important component of the clinical effects of non-accidental head injuries which have significant visual morbidity. Their importance extends into the legal investigations of carers of children with subdural haemorrhages and encephalopathy who are suspected of having been non-accidentally injured. The vital precision in diagnosis relies not just on the presence of retinal haemorrhages but on the severity, extent, bilaterality and their location in the retina. Inadequate documentation of ophthalmological clinical findings and too short a follow-up to allow proper assessment of severity each give rise to difficulties for both expert witnesses and the courts.
Asunto(s)
Maltrato a los Niños/diagnóstico , Traumatismos Craneocerebrales/etiología , Hemorragia Retiniana/etiología , Niño , Testimonio de Experto , Humanos , Hemorragia Retiniana/diagnóstico , Índice de Severidad de la Enfermedad , Reino UnidoRESUMEN
PURPOSE: To describe a case of ocular tilt reaction caused by vasculitic lesions in the midbrain in a child with polyarteritis nodosa. DESIGN: Observational case report. METHODS: A 5-year-old girl with a chronic illness developed diplopia associated with a left head tilt, right hypertropia, torsional nystagmus, slowed vertical saccades and poor convergence. Fundoscopic examination demonstrated conjugate leftward torsion of the eyes consistent with a sustained ocular tilt reaction.Renal angiography confirmed polyarteritis nodosa and cerebral magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated mesencephalic pathology. CONCLUSIONS: Polyarteritis nodosa is a difficult condition to diagnose in a child and can cause brainstem lesions. This rare case of ocular tilt reaction of midbrain origin highlights that a sustained head tilt in a child can be due to brainstem pathology, rather than a fourth nerve palsy.