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Anisocoria

Unequal size of the eyes' pupils From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anisocoria
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Anisocoria is a condition characterized by an unequal size of the eyes' pupils. Affecting up to 20% of the population, anisocoria is often entirely harmless, but can be a sign of more serious medical problems.

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Causes

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Perspective

Anisocoria is a common condition, defined by a diameter difference of 0.4 mm or more between the sizes of the pupils of the eyes.[2]

Anisocoria has various causes:[3]

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Diagnosis

Acute-onset anisocoria should be considered a medical emergency. These cases may be due to brain mass lesions, which cause oculomotor nerve palsy. Anisocoria in the presence of confusion, decreased mental status, severe headache, or other neurological symptoms can forewarn a neurosurgical emergency. This is because a hemorrhage, tumor, or other intracranial mass can enlarge to a size where the third cranial nerve (oculomotor nerve) is compressed, resulting in uninhibited dilatation of the pupil on the same side as the lesion.[8]

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  • English singer David Bowie exhibited anisocoria, owing to a teenage injury.[9]
  • In the season 10 Big Bang Theory Comic-Con special, Steve Molaro told a story about how he first met actor Judd Hirsch and was taken aback by his dilated pupil. One of the other writers researched it and discovered that Judd Hirsch has anisocoria.
  • American actress Melissa Benoist developed this condition in 2015.
  • American artist Ze Frank has the condition. He was listed as second author on a paper published in The Journal of Neuroscience,[10] which was featured briefly in episode 21 of the show named a show on May 25, 2012 called "My Pupils", explaining that his study of neuroscience of vision was motivated by his harmless anisocoria condition.[11][12]

Etymology

Anisocoria is composed of a prefix, root, and suffix:

  • Prefix: aniso- from the Greek language (meaning unequal), which in turn comes from an: meaning not and iso meaning equal
  • Root: cor, from the Greek word korē meaning pupil of the eye
  • Suffix: -ia, which is a Latin suffix meaning a disease or a pathological or abnormal condition

Thus, anisocoria means the condition of unequal pupils.

See also

References

Further reading

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