Visual contrast sensitivity in drug-induced Parkinsonism

J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1989 Mar;52(3):341-5. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.52.3.341.

Abstract

The influence of stimulus orientation on contrast sensitivity function was studied in 10 patients with drug-induced Parkinsonism. Nine of the 10 patients had at least one eye with contrast sensitivity deficit for vertical and/or horizontal stimuli. Only generalised contrast sensitivity loss, observed in two eyes, was stimulus orientation independent. All spatial frequency-selective contrast deficits in 15 eyes were orientation dependent. The striking similarity between the pattern of contrast sensitivity loss in drug-induced Parkinsonism and that in idiopathic Parkinson's disease, suggests that generalised dopaminergic deficiency, from whatever cause, affects visual function in an analogous way.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Bipolar Disorder / drug therapy
  • Depressive Disorder / drug therapy
  • Drug Therapy, Combination
  • Female
  • Fluspirilene / adverse effects*
  • Fluspirilene / therapeutic use
  • Haloperidol / adverse effects*
  • Haloperidol / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Orientation / drug effects
  • Parkinson Disease, Secondary / chemically induced*
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual / drug effects
  • Pregnancy
  • Psychotic Disorders / drug therapy*
  • Puerperal Disorders / drug therapy
  • Schizophrenia / drug therapy
  • Sensory Thresholds / drug effects
  • Spiro Compounds / adverse effects*
  • Visual Perception / drug effects*

Substances

  • Spiro Compounds
  • Fluspirilene
  • Haloperidol