Triplopia: thirteen patients from a neurology inpatient service.

BACKGROUND

Seeing triple is a rare complaint, so anatomically unlikely that it is often considered a diagnostic symptom of hysteria.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the complaint of triple vision among a large group of neurological inpatients.

DESIGN

Personal case series during a 34-year period.

SETTING

Neurology and neurosurgery wards of the University of Southern California-Los Angeles County Medical Center. Patients Thirteen patients who reported seeing objects in triplicate.

RESULTS

Eleven of 13 patients had ocular motor findings, including third nerve palsy in 5 patients, internuclear ophthalmoplegia in 4, and sixth nerve palsy in 2. Causes included brainstem infarction in 4 patients; ischemic mononeuropathy, trauma, surgery, and hysteria in 2 patients each; and tumor in 1 patient.

CONCLUSION

Triplopia is a rare complaint that, in a neurology inpatient service, often represents an unusual interpretation of abnormal eye movements.