Symptomatic treatment of infantile nystagmus: a systematic review

Infantile nystagmus (IN) is a neuro-ophthalmic condition characterized by involuntary rhythmic eye movements that manifest early in childhood. The surge of recent articles focusing on the treatment of IN demonstrates the need for a new systematic review of the intervention options. The diverse cause...

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Main Authors: Xuanwei Li, Bianca Huurneman, Jeroen Goossens
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-06-01
Series:Frontiers in Neuroscience
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1612504/full
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author Xuanwei Li
Xuanwei Li
Bianca Huurneman
Bianca Huurneman
Jeroen Goossens
Jeroen Goossens
author_facet Xuanwei Li
Xuanwei Li
Bianca Huurneman
Bianca Huurneman
Jeroen Goossens
Jeroen Goossens
author_sort Xuanwei Li
collection DOAJ
description Infantile nystagmus (IN) is a neuro-ophthalmic condition characterized by involuntary rhythmic eye movements that manifest early in childhood. The surge of recent articles focusing on the treatment of IN demonstrates the need for a new systematic review of the intervention options. The diverse causes of IN complicate its differentiation from symptoms secondary to other conditions, presenting challenges for clinical decision-making and systematic review. This study provides the first extensive, focused summary of symptomatic treatment options for IN. We noted that current approaches can be broadly categorized into four types of interventions: surgical, pharmacological, optical, and perceptual training methods, each offering distinct benefits and limitations. Most of the included studies (28/52) focused on invasive surgical interventions. Alternatively, the nascent perceptual training showed promising improvements in both visual acuity (VA) and quality of life (QoL). Heterogeneous reporting of treatment outcomes for IN hindered meta-analysis and precise comparison of intervention effects, underscoring an urgent need for standardized outcome measures in future studies. We further suggest including functional vision measurements and QoL assessments to better address patient well-being, rethinking invasive surgical approaches and exploring non-invasive treatment modalities in clinical practice.
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spelling doaj-art-85f8e517b8b14602b68f0c015ed2fb812025-08-20T02:36:02ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2025-06-011910.3389/fnins.2025.16125041612504Symptomatic treatment of infantile nystagmus: a systematic reviewXuanwei Li0Xuanwei Li1Bianca Huurneman2Bianca Huurneman3Jeroen Goossens4Jeroen Goossens5Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen, NetherlandsDepartment for Medical Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, NetherlandsDonders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen, NetherlandsRoyal Dutch Visio, Nijmegen, NetherlandsDonders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen, NetherlandsDepartment for Medical Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, NetherlandsInfantile nystagmus (IN) is a neuro-ophthalmic condition characterized by involuntary rhythmic eye movements that manifest early in childhood. The surge of recent articles focusing on the treatment of IN demonstrates the need for a new systematic review of the intervention options. The diverse causes of IN complicate its differentiation from symptoms secondary to other conditions, presenting challenges for clinical decision-making and systematic review. This study provides the first extensive, focused summary of symptomatic treatment options for IN. We noted that current approaches can be broadly categorized into four types of interventions: surgical, pharmacological, optical, and perceptual training methods, each offering distinct benefits and limitations. Most of the included studies (28/52) focused on invasive surgical interventions. Alternatively, the nascent perceptual training showed promising improvements in both visual acuity (VA) and quality of life (QoL). Heterogeneous reporting of treatment outcomes for IN hindered meta-analysis and precise comparison of intervention effects, underscoring an urgent need for standardized outcome measures in future studies. We further suggest including functional vision measurements and QoL assessments to better address patient well-being, rethinking invasive surgical approaches and exploring non-invasive treatment modalities in clinical practice.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1612504/fullinfantile nystagmussymptomatic treatmentperceptual trainingvisual acuitymethodological heterogeneity
spellingShingle Xuanwei Li
Xuanwei Li
Bianca Huurneman
Bianca Huurneman
Jeroen Goossens
Jeroen Goossens
Symptomatic treatment of infantile nystagmus: a systematic review
Frontiers in Neuroscience
infantile nystagmus
symptomatic treatment
perceptual training
visual acuity
methodological heterogeneity
title Symptomatic treatment of infantile nystagmus: a systematic review
title_full Symptomatic treatment of infantile nystagmus: a systematic review
title_fullStr Symptomatic treatment of infantile nystagmus: a systematic review
title_full_unstemmed Symptomatic treatment of infantile nystagmus: a systematic review
title_short Symptomatic treatment of infantile nystagmus: a systematic review
title_sort symptomatic treatment of infantile nystagmus a systematic review
topic infantile nystagmus
symptomatic treatment
perceptual training
visual acuity
methodological heterogeneity
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1612504/full
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