VIDEO: What are oculogyric crises?
Phillip Pearl, MD, describes what oculogyric crises are and the typical characteristics that patients exhibit during an episode
Pearl: They are the sustained episodes of typically lateral, to the side, or upward, vertical, sometimes downward, eye movements. And it can last for minutes to hours. I’ve had some people tell me this has lasted all day and goes away when the child falls asleep.
It doesn’t even have to necessarily involve the eyes. It can involve the head, the neck, the tongue, the jaw. Most of the time, it’s these movements of the eyes where they’re stuck to the side or up for minutes to hours, and it can recur several times a day to several times a week. And they tend to be pretty uncomfortable.
