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Case Reports
. 2022 Sep 14;14(9):e29155.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.29155. eCollection 2022 Sep.

Apparent Defective Abduction Without Diplopia

Danny Lam  1 , Tyler R Blah  2 , Fiona S Lau  3 , Ashish Agar  3 , Ian C Francis  3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Apparent Defective Abduction Without Diplopia

Danny Lam et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Sixth nerve palsies present with horizontal diplopia and typically have a neurological or neurovascular aetiology. They can be confirmed by clinically evaluating the velocity of the abducting saccade, which is slowed. Three cases are presented in which the patients had apparent defective abduction of one eye, resulting from not only neurological causes but also orbital causes. Clinicians should have a high index of suspicion in patients with defective abduction without diplopia and should include apparent defective abduction without diplopia (ADAD) in the list of potential differential diagnoses, considering not only neurological involvement but also orbital involvement.

Keywords: apparent defective abduction without diplopia; diplopia; neuro-ophthalmology; saccades; sixth cranial nerve palsy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Left eye apparent defective abduction (top) compared with right eye abduction (bottom)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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