17 month old baby - 6th Nerve palsy observed

[tarun2812]

my son is 17 months old today. since last 4 days his left eye ball is turning in. the left eye ball is not moving outwards.  we checked up with a neurologist and after examining my baby the doctor said it is "6th Never palsy".  Since the cause is not known it must be idiopathic and the baby will recover within 2-3 months.

History : when my son was 3 months old, he had the same symptom and we had checked with a neurologist then also. He advised MRI for the baby. MRI was negative and no tomor etc was found. That time also this Dr said it is idiopathic and the baby would recover soon. And exactly after a month - the eye became normal.

My concern is - why has this thing reoccurred??  what is the reason?? should the baby undergo any further diagnostic tests??  

Kindly help !

[tarun2812]

Thanks for the response.

can you guide me what steps (investigations) should we follow everytime to ascertain the cause (if not benign).  this will help.

thanks again.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
I can understand your concern. Isolated 6th nerve palsy, on one side, with no other symptoms, is often perplexing as no cause can be found. It is difficult for the patient and the family to go through it. What needs to be done is a thorough investigation every time it happens. If no cause is found, then generally the condition is self limiting and disappears with age. A combined approach of a neurologist and an eye specialist should always be tried at every occurrence.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!