Diagnosaurus
Diplopia or ophthalmoplegia
DDx
- Microvascular infarction, eg, diabetes, hypertension
- Wernicke’s encephalopathy
- Multiple sclerosis
- Myasthenia gravis
- Graves’ ophthalmopathy
- Botulism
- Internal carotid aneurysm or dissection
- Posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) aneurysm
- Other mass compressing nerves to extraocular muscles
- Brainstem infarct
- Neurosyphilis
- Systemic lupus erythematosus
- Sarcoidosis
- Pseudotumor cerebri
- Muscle entrapment from orbital blowout fracture
- Orbital cellulitis
- Sphenoid sinusitis
- Cavernous sinus thrombosis
- Ophthalmoplegic migraine
- Temporal (giant cell) arteritis
- Tuberculous meningitis
- Diphtheria
- Progressive supranuclear palsy
- Progressive external ophthalmoplegia (mitochondrial myopathy)
- Other causes of cranial nerve palsy
- Refractive error
- Early cataract
- Lens dislocation, eg, Marfan syndrome, homocystinuria
- Corneal opacity, eg, scar, pterygium
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Last updated: December 1, 2014
Citation
Zeiger, Roni F.. "Diplopia or Ophthalmoplegia." Diagnosaurus, 4th ed., McGraw-Hill Education, 2014. Emergency Central, emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/Diagnosaurus/114386/all/Diplopia_or_ophthalmoplegia.
Zeiger RFR. Diplopia or ophthalmoplegia. Diagnosaurus. McGraw-Hill Education; 2014. https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/Diagnosaurus/114386/all/Diplopia_or_ophthalmoplegia. Accessed November 4, 2025.
Zeiger, R. F. (2014). Diplopia or ophthalmoplegia. In Diagnosaurus (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/Diagnosaurus/114386/all/Diplopia_or_ophthalmoplegia
Zeiger RFR. Diplopia or Ophthalmoplegia [Internet]. In: Diagnosaurus. McGraw-Hill Education; 2014. [cited 2025 November 04]. Available from: https://emergency.unboundmedicine.com/emergency/view/Diagnosaurus/114386/all/Diplopia_or_ophthalmoplegia.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
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T1 - Diplopia or ophthalmoplegia
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PB - McGraw-Hill Education
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