PEDIATRICS Vol. 83 No. 6 June 1989, pp. 967-970
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Vrabec, T. R.
Right arrow Articles by Nelson, L. B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Vrabec, T. R.
Right arrow Articles by Nelson, L. B.

Functional Blinking in Childhood

Tamara R. Vrabec MD1, Alex V. Levin MD1, and Leonard B. Nelson MD1

1 The Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia

At the Department of Pediatric Ophthalmology, Wills Eye Hospital, 17 children, 18 months to 10 years of age, were seen with a chief complaint of intermittent excessive blinking. Eight (47%) of the patients had been referred for ophthalmologic examination by their pediatrician for evaluation of this symptom. All were in excellent health with no associated symptoms or signs of systemic or ocular disease. None of the children were taking topical ocular or systemic medications. The parents of seven (41%) of these children were able to identify a temporally related stressful event that coincided with the onset of blinking. Durations of the symptom prior to examination ranged from 1 week to 4 months. Spontaneous resolution occurred from one day to 5 months after the first ophthalmologic examination. Recurrence occurred in only one child, but resolution was still completed within 5 months. Excessive eye blinking unassociated with other systemic or ocular findings appears to be a medically benign, self-limited functional disorder.

Key Words: blinking • blepharospasm • functional illness • psychosomatic illness

Submitted on May 5, 1988
Accepted on August 9, 1988