Clinical Prediction Score for Early Neuroimaging in Acquired Isolated Oculomotor Nerve Palsy.

PURPOSE

An immediate neuroimaging investigation in patients with isolated oculomotor nerve palsy (ONP) remains controversial. We aimed to develop a clinical prediction score to determine whether or not acquired isolated ONP patients require prompt imaging.

METHODS

A retrospective study was performed. Demographic data and clinical presentations were collected to determine predictive factors favored for early brain imaging using multivariate logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

Ninety-seven eyes of 96 patients diagnosed with isolated ONP were included. Forty-one eyes (42.3%) were caused by ischemia, while the other 56 eyes (57.7%) were caused by non-ischemic etiologies, namely aneurysm (n = 22), trauma (n = 18), inflammation (n = 5), tumor (n = 4), and others (n = 7). Eighty-two eyes (84.5%) had undergone neuroimaging study due to initially suspected non-ischemic causes. Only 36 (43.9%) revealed concordant diagnosis. The potential clinical predictors favored for neuroimaging using multivariate logistic regression analysis were age 10‒50 years (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 9.01, 95% CI: 1.25‒64.8), age 51‒70 years (aOR 1.71, 95% CI: 0.46‒6.35), history of head trauma (aOR 7.14, 95% CI: 1.19‒42.9), absence of vascular risk factors (aOR 3.85, 95% CI: 1.23‒12.1), and poor pupillary response (aOR 6.96, 95% CI: 1.99‒24.3). The predictor scores with an area under the ROC curve of 0.852 were 4, 1, 4, 3, and 4, respectively. The optimum cut-point was 3 for a sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 44%.

CONCLUSION

Patients with acquired isolated ONP should be considered early neuroimaging studies when they are younger than 50 years old, have a history of head trauma, have no history of vascular risk factors, or have poor pupillary reaction.