Joseph Demer, MD, Professor of Opthalmology and Neurology, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, discusses orbital MRI with relation to diagnosis of the many types of strabismus. Using high-performance surface coils and protocols that can control the patient’s gaze, it is possible to resolve details of the extraocular muscles and trace most of the branches of the cranial nerves to the extraocular muscles. The technique can be optimized for this purpose using hardware that is available in almost every medical facility in the Unites States.

Reading:

Kawabe K, Nagaoka T, Iguchi H, Ikeda K, Iwasaki Y. Optic nerve MRI enhancement in posterior ischaemic optic neuropathy due to internal carotid artery dissection. Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2010 Jan 25.

Krebs RM, Woldorff MG, Tempelmann C, Bodammer N, Noesselt T, Boehler CN, Scheich H, Hopf JM, Duzel E, Heinze HJ, Schoenfeld MA. High-field FMRI reveals brain activation patterns underlying saccade execution in the human superior colliculus. MA. PLoS One. 2010 Jan 13;5(1):e8691.

Mazzone L, Yu S, Blair C, Gunter BC, Wang Z, Marsh R, Peterson BS. An FMRI study of frontostriatal circuits during the inhibition of eye blinking in persons with Tourette syndrome. Am J Psychiatry. 2010 Jan 15.