Quick bedside test of eye movements works better than MRI for identifying stroke, new study says

In the category of things we'd like our doctors to know, we offer the following news. Researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Illinois report that a cheap, quick bedside check of eye movements in high-risk patients with nausea and dizziness works better than an MRI in identifying those who have had a stroke. The study of 101 patients found the bedside test of eye movements caught more strokes than the gold standard diagnostic tool of a neuroimaging MRI. The researchers want to try to repeat the results in a larger population to determine whether the bedside test can save considerable costs by eliminating the need for MRIs for many patients. Previous research had indicated that people having a stroke showed eye-movement alterations that correlate with stroke-damage to various brain areas and that these are distinct from eye-movement alterations seen with benign ear diseases. Based on those earlier results, the Johns Hopkins/Illinois research team decided to test eye movements in patients experiencing weakness and dizziness to determine whether there was any link and whether they could differentiate the stroke patients from those having other problems. Their hunch paid off with results that may save lives and significantly reduce diagnostic costs.