title: Binocular Vision in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare binocular vision measurements between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) patients and healthy controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-one CFS patients referred by the Reference Centre for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome of the Antwerp University Hospital and forty-one healthy volunteers, matched for age and gender, underwent a complete orthoptic examination. Data of visual acuity, eye position, fusion amplitude, stereopsis, ocular motility, convergence, and accommodation were compared between both groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with CFS showed highly significant smaller fusion amplitudes (P < 0.001), reduced convergence capacity (P < 0.001), and a smaller accommodation range (P < 0.001) compared to the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with CFS binocular vision, convergence and accommodation should be routinely examined. CFS patients will benefit from reading glasses either with or without prism correction in an earlier stage compared to their healthy peers. Convergence exercises may be beneficial for CFS patients, despite the fact that they might be very tiring. Further research will be necessary to draw conclusions about the efficacy of treatment, especially regarding convergence exercises. To our knowledge, this is the first prospective study evaluating binocular vision in CFS patients.
authors: From the Antwerp University Hospital, Department of Ophthalmology, Edegem (Antwerp); godts@uza.be.
authors: Daisy
authors: D
authors: Godts
authors: University of Antwerp, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wilrijk (Antwerp).|Antwerp University Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, Edegem (Antwerp), Belgium.
authors: Greta
authors: G
authors: Moorkens
authors: From the Antwerp University Hospital, Department of Ophthalmology, Edegem (Antwerp).|University of Antwerp, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wilrijk (Antwerp).
authors: Danny G P
authors: DG
authors: Mathysen
mesh_terms: D000065:Accommodation, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D000328:Adult; D003290:Convergence, Ocular / Q000502:physiology; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009988:Orthoptics; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015348:Vision, Binocular / Q000502:physiology*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS); accommodation; binocular vision; convergence