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Nystagmus: Is there a relation to Shaken Baby Syndrome?

Although blindness is one possible result of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), the impairment is caused by retinal hemorrhages and is entirely different in appearance from most congenital eye disorders - including Nystagmus.

A couple of times over the past few years, New Vision has received e-mail from parents who, for whatever reason, stand accused of having shaken their babies. Still others, on learning of Nystagmus, fear that they have inadvertently shaken their babies in such a way as to have caused it. Unless there is some other evidence, Nystagmus alone is not an indicator of SBS, nor can a parent accidentally - through the course of normal activity - shake their child enough to cause blindness. 

Nystagmus can be hereditary, idiopathic (no known cause), or acquired later in life - yet there are no known cases, as far as the webmaster has heard, of SBS causing Nystagmus. If your child has Nystagmus, contact an eye care professional to see if a cause can be determined. 

Shaken baby website list of FAQs

"How is SBS diagnosed? A CT (computerized tomography) scan or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), both x-rays of the head, are used to detect the presence of subdural hematomas. A physician will be looking for old bleeding (chronic subdural hematomas) as well as new bleeding (acute subdural hematoma). An eye exam, which includes dilating the eyes and examining them, is also used to detect any bleeding within the eye (retinal hemorrhages). The presence of subdural hematomas and retinal hemorrhages confirm the diagnosis of SBS. In most cases, x-rays (skeletal surveys) will be done on the rest of the body to determine if there are any past or present bone fractures."