The effect of chronic one-eye patching on ocular myoclonus.

Ocular myoclonus developed in our 34-year-old patient 4 months after massive brain stem hemorrhage due to eclampsia. On chronic patching of the left eye, the vertical pendular nystagmus in the fixating right eye disappeared, whereas the covered eye was esotropic. While fixating, the left eye showed horizontal pendular nystagmus. With both eyes fixating, the right eye presented markedly vertical pendular nystagmus and the left eye a horizontal pendular nystagmus. It seems that chronic patching of one eye has a beneficial modulating effect on the vertical pendular nystagmus in the fixating eye.