Objective and permanent recording of various parameters of disease provides not only more accurate data, but occasionally new and unsuspected information. Such information provides a basis for a better understanding of the causes of disease, while challenging the older precepts of physiology and pathophysiology. This is particularly true in regard to the nervous system.
A communication in the August issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology1 describes the use of electro-oculography to record disorders of ocular movements in patients with multiple sclerosis and in a variety of other conditions with cerebellar dysfunction. The method of recording is simple and requires only a cooperative, rational patient whose visual acuity is sufficient to allow him to follow a spot of light on a screen. The surface electrodes which are used produce no discomfort.2
The results of this study suggest that certain abnormal eye movements, namely, ocular dysmetria and flutter-like oscillations, are