•  
  •  
 

Medical Subject Headings

Ocular Motor Nerve, Oculomotor Nerve Diseases, Ophthalmoplegia, Eye Movements

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A patient with a third cranial nerve (CN III) palsy can be a stress inducing event for an optometrist due to the potentially life-threatening etiologies and infrequency of their presentation. The pathogenesis of a CN III palsy can vary from innocuous to life threatening. Palsy of the third cranial nerve results in an impairment of eye movement and / or pupillary response to light depending on the extent of the palsy. CASE REPORT: This case reviews a recent onset of a complete right oculomotor palsy. Literature of similar cases detail the likelihood of variable causes, and while a diagnostic work-up is indicated based on the risk, the etiology of the palsy in this case was determined to be more benign in nature. CONCLUSION: Large scale population studies in the literature reveal the etiology of a CN III palsy from life-threatening conditions is lower than indicated based on published case reports. However, a complete evaluation of a patient including neuro-imagining is still warranted due to the potential life-threatening complications. Further population studies with increased diversity need to be performed to advance knowledge in this area.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

doi.org/10.37685/uiwlibraries.2575-7717.5.2.1010

Share

COinS