Acquired retraction syndrome after sixth nerve palsy.

Duane (I905) emphasized six features of a characteristic congenital ocular motility syndrome: (i) Complete, or less often partial, loss of abduction of the affected eye; (2) Partial, or rarely complete, restriction of adduction of the aHected eye; (3) Retraction of the affected eye into the orbit on adduction; (4) Oblique overshoot of the affected eye either up and in or down and in on adduction; (5) Partial closure of the lids (pseudo-ptosis) of the affected eye on adduction; (6) Paresis of convergence, the affected eye remaining fixed in the primary position while the sound eye is converging. This ocular motility pattern has since been known as Duane's retraction syndrome and is characteristically congenital. The purpose of this paper is to report the case of a patient who developed the characteristic features of Duane's retraction syndrome after a posttraumatic ophthalmoplegia, and in whom photographic documentation exists to prove that the defect did not previously exist.