Syndrome of the superior orbital fissure is a painful ophthalmic pathology, which is a rather rare ailment. The disease is accompanied not only by severe discomfort, but also a number of neurological manifestations, in particular dysfunction of the cranial nerves. Let’s look at what constitutes the syndrome of the superior orbital fissure. Photos will help to understand the general picture of pathology.
What is the disease manifested in?
Syndrome of the superior orbital fissure is a lesion of the structure of tissues passing in the region of the eye veins and arteries. In some cases, pathological changes can affect the block, oculomotor and
abducent nerves. The combination of these manifestations is reflected in the formation of a stable pain syndrome in the orbital orbit. Ultimately, significant vision problems are observed.
Syndrome of the superior orbital fissure: causes
The mechanism of the development of the syndrome to this day is not fully understood. It is only known exactly that it can be generated:
- neurological pathology;
- mechanical damage to the orbit of the eyes ;
- brain tumors that are located near the orbits;
- inflammatory processes in the structure of the cerebral cortex;
- meningitis that develops in the orbital fissure.
Syndrome of the superior orbital fissure equally affects both the female and male parts of the population. Pathology is especially common in people of old age.
Upper palpebral fissure syndrome: symptoms
Often, manifestations of the disease occur rapidly, without the preceding premises. You can determine the development of the disease by the expressed discomfort in the area behind the eyeball. An additional symptom is often aching pain in the superciliary, temporal or frontal area.
A few weeks after the activation of the above clinical manifestations, a sensation of double vision is added, the inability to control one of the eyeballs. All this eventually develops into a squint on the side where discomfort is most pronounced.
Quite often, the syndrome of the superior orbital fissure is expressed by the defeat of various optic nerves in separate combinations. For this reason, some patients may experience prolonged conjunctivitis, while others - exophthalmos.
Usually the pain syndrome persists until the clinical manifestation of the disease is fully manifested, which takes about two months. In some cases, the symptoms are supplemented by sharp jumps in body temperature, inexplicable changes in indicators in subsequent blood tests.
Diagnostics
Studies aimed at identifying the syndrome of the superior orbital fissure are multifaceted. At the first suspicion of the development of the disease, an ophthalmologist consults. The specialist diagnoses visual acuity and visual fields. Next, the patient is sent to a neurologist who collects an anamnesis and conducts a comprehensive examination.
Subsequent diagnostics are performed using neuroimaging methods. Here they resort to MRI and CT of the brain, sonography and angiography of the orbits of the eyeballs. According to the requirements for the final diagnosis, it is possible to judge the presence of the syndrome of the superior orbital fissure only when granulomatous inflammation of the cavernous sinuses is detected by magnetic resonance imaging.
Treatment
To date, the only productive method of therapy in the development of upper palpebral fissure syndrome is the use of steroids. Positive results with such drug treatment are observed already in the first day.
With the development of this pathology, doctors who study the problem, note a rather high efficiency of the use of corticosteroids. Typically, the patient is prescribed prednisone in tablets or its analogues.
In general, it is quite difficult for specialists to conduct controlled studies using placebo in a sample of experimental subjects, which would allow us to identify truly effective drugs. The reason for this is the relative rarity of the disease.
Eventually
Therapy aimed at eliminating the syndrome, involves primarily the identification of factors that provoke the manifestation of pathology. Therefore, when identifying the first symptoms of the disease and the conditions accompanying them, it is extremely important to immediately seek the help of an ophthalmologist for a complex of diagnostic procedures.