A 10-year boy is examined because his parents noticed that “his eyes never seem to look in the right direction

A 10-year boy is examined because his parents noticed that “his eyes never seem to look in the right direction.” On examination, the left eye of the child is unable to move laterally (abduction) and when asked to look toward the nose (adduction), the eyeball retracts into the socket and the eye opening narrows. Sometimes, the eye also moves superiorly. The child is diagnosed with Duane syndrome, a congenital ocular motility disorder characterized by limited abduction of the affected eye. This is due to absence of the abducens (fifth cranial) nerve with aberrant innervation by the oculomotor (third cranial) nerve. Which of the following muscles is normally innervated by the abducens nerve?

  • (A) inferior oblique
  • (B) lateral rectus
  • © medial rectus
  • (D) superior oblique
  • (E) superior rectus

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exp:

(B) The abducens (sixth cranial) nerve normally innervates the lateral rectus muscle. The inferior oblique (choice A), medial rectus (choice C), and superior rectus (choice E) are all innervated by the oculomotor (third cranial) nerve. The superior oblique (choice D) is innervated by the trochlear (fourth cranial) nerve. In Duane syndrome, the absence of lateral rectus innervation by the abducens (sixth cranial) nerve is replaced by an aberrant innervation of the oculomotor (third cranial) nerve. Thus when the patient is asked to adduct the affected eye, there is cocontraction of the lateral and medial recti with globe retraction.