Horner's syndrome

You don't need to be Editor-In-Chief to add or edit content to WikiDoc. You can begin to add to or edit text on this WikiDoc page by clicking on the edit button at the top of this page. Next enter or edit the information that you would like to appear here. Once you are done editing, scroll down and click the Save page button at the bottom of the page.

Jump to: navigation, search
Horner's syndrome
Classification and external resources
ICD-10 G90.2
ICD-9 337.9
OMIM 143000
DiseasesDB 6014
MedlinePlus 000708
eMedicine med/1029  oph/336
MeSH D006732

WikiDoc Resources for

Horner's syndrome

Articles

Most recent articles on Horner's syndrome

Most cited articles on Horner's syndrome

Review articles on Horner's syndrome

Articles on Horner's syndrome in N Eng J Med, Lancet, BMJ

Media

Powerpoint slides on Horner's syndrome

Images of Horner's syndrome

Photos of Horner's syndrome

Podcasts & MP3s on Horner's syndrome

Videos on Horner's syndrome

Evidence Based Medicine

Cochrane Collaboration on Horner's syndrome

Bandolier on Horner's syndrome

TRIP on Horner's syndrome

Clinical Trials

Ongoing Trials on Horner's syndrome at Clinical Trials.gov

Trial results on Horner's syndrome

Clinical Trials on Horner's syndrome at Google

Guidelines / Policies / Govt

US National Guidelines Clearinghouse on Horner's syndrome

NICE Guidance on Horner's syndrome

NHS PRODIGY Guidance

FDA on Horner's syndrome

CDC on Horner's syndrome

Books

Books on Horner's syndrome

News

Horner's syndrome in the news

Be alerted to news on Horner's syndrome

News trends on Horner's syndrome

Commentary

Blogs on Horner's syndrome

Definitions

Definitions of Horner's syndrome

Patient Resources / Community

Patient resources on Horner's syndrome

Discussion groups on Horner's syndrome

Patient Handouts on Horner's syndrome

Directions to Hospitals Treating Horner's syndrome

Risk calculators and risk factors for Horner's syndrome

Healthcare Provider Resources

Symptoms of Horner's syndrome

Causes & Risk Factors for Horner's syndrome

Diagnostic studies for Horner's syndrome

Treatment of Horner's syndrome

Continuing Medical Education (CME)

CME Programs on Horner's syndrome

International

Horner's syndrome en Espanol

Horner's syndrome en Francais

Businness

Horner's syndrome in the Marketplace

Patents on Horner's syndrome

Experimental / Informatics

List of terms related to Horner's syndrome

Please Take Over This Page and Apply to be Editor-In-Chief for this topic: There can be one or more than one Editor-In-Chief. You may also apply to be an Associate Editor-In-Chief of one of the subtopics below. Please mail us [1] to indicate your interest in serving either as an Editor-In-Chief of the entire topic or as an Associate Editor-In-Chief for a subtopic. Please be sure to attach your CV and or biographical sketch.

Horner's syndrome is a clinical syndrome caused by damage to the sympathetic nervous system. It is also known by the names Bernard-Horner syndrome or oculosympathetic palsy.

Signs

Signs found in all patients on affected side of face include ptosis (drooping upper eyelid from loss of sympathetic innervation to the Müller-Rouget muscle), upside-down ptosis (slight elevation of the lower lid), and miosis (constricted pupil) and dilation lag. Enophthalmos (the impression that the eye is sunk in) and anhidrosis (decreased sweating) on the affected side of the face, loss of ciliospinal reflex and blood shot conjunctiva may occur depending on the site of lesion.

In children Horner's syndrome sometimes leads to a difference in eye color between the two eyes (heterochromia).[1] This happens because a lack of sympathetic stimulation in childhood interferes with melanin pigmentation of the melanocytes in the superficial stroma of the iris.

History

It is named after Johann Friedrich Horner, the Swiss ophthalmologist who first described the syndrome in 1869.[1][1] Several others had previously described cases, but "Horner's syndrome" is most prevalent. In France, Claude Bernard is also eponymised with the condition being called "syndrome Bernard-Horner".

Causes

Horner's syndrome is usually acquired but may also be congenital (inborn) or iatrogenic (caused by medical treatment). Although most causes are relatively benign, Horner's syndrome may reflect serious pathology in the neck or chest (such as a Pancoast tumor or thyrocervical venous dilatation) and hence requires workup.

Pathophysiology

Horner's syndrome is due to a deficiency of sympathetic activity. The site of lesion to the sympathetic outflow is on the ipsilateral side of the symptoms. The following are examples of conditions that cause the clinical appearance of Horner's syndrome:

  • First-order neuron disorder: Central lesions that involve the hypothalamospinal pathway (e.g. transection of the cervical spinal cord).
  • Second-order neuron disorder: Preganglionic lesions (e.g. compression of the sympathetic chain by a lung tumor).
  • Third-order neuron disorder: Postganglionic lesions at the level of the internal carotid artery (e.g. a tumor in the cavernous sinus).

Diagnosis

Three tests are useful in confirming the presence and severity of Horner's syndrome:

  1. Cocaine drop test - Cocaine blocks the reuptake of norepinephrine resulting in the dilation of a normal pupil. The pupil will fail to dilate in Horner's syndrome.
  2. Paredrine test
  3. Dilation lag test

It is important to distinguish the ptosis caused by Horner's syndrome from the ptosis caused by a lesion to the oculomotor nerve. In the former, the ptosis occurs with a constricted pupil (due to a loss of sympathetics to the eye), whereas in the latter, the ptosis occurs with a dilated pupil (due to a loss of innervation to the sphincter pupillae). In an actual clinical setting, however, these two different ptoses are fairly easy to distinguish. In addition to the blown pupil in a CNIII (oculomotor nerve) lesion, this ptosis is much more severe, occasionally occluding the whole eye. The ptosis of Horner's syndrome can be quite mild or barely noticeable.

See also

References

de:Horner-Syndromfr:Syndrome de Claude Bernard-Horner

ja:ホルネル症候群sv:Horners syndrom


WikiDoc Help Menu

Quick Start..

Editing basics

Advanced editing

Communicating your edits

Help Videos You Can Watch


Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content

Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .

Personal tools
In other languages