背景:视觉雪综合征(VSS)是一种中枢神经系统疾病,由在整个视野中不断感知黑色和白色小点组成。
方法:VSS可以从婴儿期到老年,在年轻人群中患病率更高,并且没有显示性别之间的差异。诊断标准包括视觉雪的存在和其他视觉现象,如阳光明媚,畏光,夜蛾,和其他持续的视觉现象。VSS的病理生理学未知,但是视觉皮层的过度兴奋和高阶视觉处理的功能障碍被认为是潜在的机制。VSS患者的偏头痛患病率很高,与普通人群相比,同时出现这两种情况的患者症状更严重。没有有效的治疗方法,但效果最好的药物是拉莫三嗪,仅在具有严重功能限制的选定病例中推荐。
结论:VSS是一个鲜为人知且未被诊断的实体,但是近年来越来越多的研究使得建立诊断标准并开始研究其病理生理学成为可能。这个实体与偏头痛密切相关,症状重叠,可能有共同的病理生理机制。
BACKGROUND: Visual snow syndrome (VSS) is a central nervous system disorder that consists of the constant perception of small black and white dots throughout the entire visual field.
METHODS: VSS can present from infancy to old age, with greater prevalence in the young population, and shows no difference between sexes. The diagnostic criteria include the presence of visual snow and such other visual phenomena as palinopsia, photophobia, nyctalopia, and other persistent visual phenomena. The pathophysiology of VSS is unknown, but hyperexcitability of the visual cortex and a dysfunction in higher-order visual processing are postulated as potential mechanisms. The prevalence of migraine among patients with VSS is high, compared to the general population, and symptoms are more severe in patients presenting both conditions. No effective treatment is available, but the drug with the best results is lamotrigine, which is recommended only in selected cases with severe functional limitation.
CONCLUSIONS: VSS is a little-known and underdiagnosed entity, but the increasing number of studies in recent years has made it possible to establish diagnostic criteria and begin studying its pathophysiology. This entity is closely related to migraine, with overlapping symptoms and probably shared pathophysiological mechanisms.