Introduction: 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.
Development: 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.
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Multicenter Validation of the Ocular Myasthenia Gravis Rating Scale Questionnaire.
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January 2025
From the Department of Neuro-Ophthalmology (S.H.W.), Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; Departments of Ophthalmology and Neurology (S.H.W.), Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust; Department of Ophthalmology (S.H.W.), Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London; Department of Clinical and Movement Neuroscience (S.H.W.), UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, United Kingdom; Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (R.A., W.T.C., T.D., J.R.E., C.A.A., L.B.D.L.), Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Departments of Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery (E.R.E., S.K.), Mayo Clinic, FL; Survey Research Center (J.R.E.), Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and Division of Neurology (C.B.-T.), Department of Medicine, University Health Network and University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Background And Objectives: Ocular myasthenia gravis (OMG) causes disabling ocular symptoms of ptosis and diplopia, but a validated disease-specific patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) has not been reported. We sought to validate a novel PROM for OMG, OMG Rating Scale Questionnaire (OMGRate-q), as a measure of visual functioning to support patient-centered care.
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[Characterization of a German cohort with visual snow syndrome].
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December 2024
Klinik für Neurologie, Oberbayerisches Kopfschmerzzentrum, Klinikum Großhadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, Deutschland.
Article Synopsis
- Visual snow is a visual perception disorder characterized by constant flickering or "TV-like" noise in the visual field and is often accompanied by symptoms like light sensitivity and afterimages, making diagnosis challenging due to misconceptions with migraine aura.* -
- A study involving 66 German patients with Visual Snow Syndrome (VSS) found that common symptoms included photophobia (67%) and afterimages (65%), with over half experiencing migraines and nearly half showing signs of anxiety or depression.* -
- The findings suggest that the characteristics of this German cohort align with international cases, highlighting the need for awareness to reduce the risk of psychosomatic stigma linked to the psychological aspects of the disorder.*
Visual Snow Syndrome is unstable: A longitudinal investigation of VSS symptoms in a Naïve population.
Ann Clin Transl Neurol
December 2024
Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the nature of subclinical Visual Snow Syndrome (VSS). We sought to develop a means of recruiting naïve participants with subclinical VSS symptoms to participate in research; and to understand whether subclinical VSS symptoms are stable across time. VSS is a recently characterised neurological condition, whose primary symptom is visual snow (dynamic noise in the visual field).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExploring the Phenotype and Possible Mechanisms of Palinopsia in Visual Snow Syndrome.
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci
October 2024
Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.
Purpose: Palinopsia (persistent afterimages and/or trailing) is a common but poorly understood symptom of the neurological condition visual snow syndrome. This study aimed to collect a phenotypical description of palinopsia in visual snow syndrome and probe for abnormalities in temporal visual processing, hypothesizing that palinopsia could arise from increased visibility of normal afterimage signals or prolonged visible persistence.
Methods: Thirty controls and 31 participants with visual snow syndrome (18 with migraine) took part.
Understanding visual perception in visual snow syndrome: a battery of psychophysical tests plus the 30-day clinical diary.
Brain Commun
September 2024
Laboratory of Psychophysics, Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
Patients with visual snow syndrome (VSS) experience uncountable flickering tiny dots in the entire visual field. Symptoms often persist over the years. Very little is known about altered perception in VSS.
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