Definition:
Duane syndrome or DS is a very rare, congenital disorder that affects the eye movement. It is ofte times characterized by the eye's inability to turn out. It is named after Alexander Duane who made a very comprehensive discussion of the disorder back in 1905. Other terms referring to this condition also include Congenital retraction syndrome, Eye Retraction Syndrome, Duane's Retraction Syndrome or DR syndrome, Retraction Syndrome, and Stilling-Turk-Duane Syndrome.
Diagnosis:
A full case history is usually taken to distinguish between these many conditions. The person conducting the clinical test must be very persistent in examining the abduction and the adduction, and also in looking for any other associated eye opening changes or changes involving the head posture, when trying to determine what always presents as a common squint in children may in fact be Duane syndrome.
Treatment:
Duane syndrome is not curable because of the absence of the cranial nerve, which cant be replaced. There has never been any expectation that surgery may result in increase in the eye movement range. Thus, surgical treatments are only recommended if the patient cannot maintain binocularity at specific areas and other very very valid reasons.
Symptoms and Signs:
Symptoms and characteristics of this disease included the limitation of abduction or the outward movement of the eye affected with this disease, less marked limitation of the inward movement of the affected eye, the eye opening widens when trying abduction, very poor convergence of the eye, patients will turn his/her face to the side of the affected eye to compensate for the limited eye movement and also to maintain two ocular vision.
Causes:
DS is caused by a wrong wiring of the muscles of the eye, which cause some muscles to contract abnormally. The abducens nucleus and the nerve are missing or are hypoplastic, and lateral rectus is disturbed by a branch of oculomotor nerve.
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