Duane Syndrome - Characteristics

Characteristics

As described by Duane, the characteristic features of the syndrome are:

1. Limitation of abduction (outward movement) of the affected eye.
2. Less marked limitation of adduction (inward movement) of the same eye.
3. Retraction of the eyeball into the socket on adduction, with associated narrowing of the palpebral fissure (eye closing)
4. Widening of the palpebral fissure on attempted abduction. (N.B. Mein and Trimble point out that this is "probably of no significance" as the phenomenon also occurs in other conditions in which abduction is limited).
5. Poor convergence
6. A face turn to the side of the affected eye to compensate for the movement limitations of the eye(s) and to maintain binocular vision.
7. Eye is 45ﾟ to left or right, resulting in "correct movement", but wrong placing of eye. (i.e. when an unaffected eye looks to the right, the affected eye looks straight forward, and when the unaffected eye looks straight forward, the affected eye looks to the left)