01-10-2014 | Practical Pearl
Neurologist Versus Machine: Is the Pupillometer Better than the Naked Eye in Detecting Pupillary Reactivity
Published in: Neurocritical Care | Issue 2/2014
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Background
A 62-year-old man with severe traumatic brain injury developed postsurgical anisocoria in which there was a discrepancy between pupillometer and manual testing.
Methods
Case report.
Results
The patient’s larger pupil was read as unreactive by the pupillometer but constricted 1 mm over 7–9 s of continuous light stimulation.
Conclusions
While pupillometry assessment is a valuable adjunct to the manual pupillary assessment, this case demonstrates that nonreactive pupils read on the pupillometer should be confirmed with the manual examination because it can miss very slowly reacting pupils.