Ocular motor dysfunction in HIV-1-infected subjects

Abstract

We recorded eye and head movements in 13 human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1)-infected patients with CD4 counts of less than or equal to 500 cells/mm3 using magnetic search coil oculography. Horizontal and vertical saccades, smooth pursuit, and vestibular smooth eye movements were recorded, as were horizontal antisaccades and vestibular memory-guided saccades. Rightward and leftward and upward and downward responses were analyzed separately. Compared to normal control subjects, HIV-1--infected patients performed the antisaccade test poorly, making the initial antisaccade in the correct direction (away from the target) in only 33% of trials. The mean final gaze position achieved during the vestibular memory-guided saccade task was less accurate for HIV-1-infected patients than for control subjects, and this correlated with inaccuracies on the antisaccade task. Horizontal saccades, horizontal and vertical smooth pursuit, and vestibular smooth eye movements were quantitatively normal. However, smooth pursuit showed directional asymmetries, vertically more than horizontally; horizontal and vertical unpredictable saccades were more inaccurate than predictable saccades; and vertical saccade latencies were prolonged. In patients with HIV-1 infection, abnormalities in vertical eye movements and relative asymmetries in smooth pursuit gains, both horizontally and vertically, are more sensitive and consistent indicators of CNS dysfunction than are horizontal eye movement abnormalities or measurements of absolute smooth pursuit gain and phase.