Sandbag drops on head: Internal strabismus and diplopia. Various diagnoses. Cure by lenses.
Case 436. (Harwood, September, 1916.)
A four-pound wet sandbag fell eight feet on the head of a sergeant-major, 28, lying in a Gallipoli dug-out, November 24, 1915. The sergeant-major was removed to Lemnos with headache and giddiness, and a week later developed bilateral internal strabismus with double vision and head noises. The diagnosis was “brain tumor” or “syphilitic meningitis of the base.” On the voyage home, the diagnosis was altered to “multiple neuritis or neurasthenia.”
He was admitted to the King George Hospital, January 1, 1916, unable to move the eyes outwards; they moved rather poorly up and down. There was a slight lateral nystagmus. The patient had been unable to read or stand since the accident. The visual acuity of each eye was less than 6/60, but with an arrangement of lenses he could get 6/5 with either eye. He had perfect binocular vision and could read ordinary type comfortably. In a week’s time he was able to stand without support and walk with a stick. Whenever he took off the glasses, the strabismus and diplopia immediately returned. Other combinations were tried but failed to relieve symptoms. The lenses given were +0.375 c. Vert. and L. +0.25 S. +0.25 C. 75 do.