Bielschowsky's head tilt test is a medical test to detect damage to the IVth cranial nerve leading to a palsy of the superior oblique muscle of the eye. This damage can be acquired or inherited and can affect one or both eyes.
When a healthy individual tilts their head, the superior oblique and superior rectus muscles of the eye closest to the shoulder keep the eye level. The inferior oblique and inferior rectus muscles keep the other eye level. In patients with superior oblique palsy, the superior rectus muscle’s action is not counteracted by the superior oblique muscles. This leads to vertical deviation of the affected eye when the head is tilted towards the effected eye. However, there is no deviation when the head is tilted towards the unaffected eye because the superior oblique muscle is not stimulated in the effected eye, but rather it is stimulated in the unaffected eye. When there is a discrepancy in ocular deviation based on which way the head is tilted, the patient is diagnosed with unilateral palsy of the superior oblique muscle due to damage in the Trochlear Nerve.
Patients with superior oblique palsy on one side experience double vision, which is improved or even abolished by tilting the head towards the shoulder on the unaffected side. Tilting the head towards the shoulder on the affected side will make the double vision worse by causing increased separation of the two images seen by the patient.
The test is named after Alfred Bielschowsky.
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