Marlow Association

A Marlow bandage is the diagnostic closure of an eye using an occlusal plaster over a period of several days. The purpose of this fully dissociating procedure is the complete interruption of the two-eyed vision in order to obtain certain information and information in connection with eye muscle imbalance disorders ( strabismus ). In most cases, a Marlow bandage will be done to determine if

• so-called asthenopic complaints are due to disorders of binocular vision or
• a latent squint ( heterophoria ) is present, which cannot be detected in any other way or
• the extent of a latent or manifest squint changes ( latent component , dynamic squint angle ).

origin

As the inventor of this investigation procedure, the US applies ophthalmologist F. W. Marlow , who dealt in 1897 with this method underlying principles, after having treated a patient who after several days of dressing an injured eye of acute double vision complained.

Principle and implementation

The method is based on the idea of completely interrupting the two-eyed vision and thus the sensory and motor fusion in order to achieve a so-called relative or fusion-free resting position in which the eye muscle balance is unaffected by one's own innervational activities to maintain binocular vision - can adjust. The method is particularly important in preoperative diagnostics and to determine a dynamic - usually the largest - squint angle as the basis for correct surgical dosing , as well as to clarify whether a prism prescription could be useful or not.

The Marlow bandage is a diagnostic measure that is used when the other test results are ambiguous and other procedures have not produced any suitable results. In the case of manifest strabismus, the occlusion is applied to the non-leading eye and must not be removed for the prescribed period, not even when sleeping. The bandage is only removed for the examination itself, which takes the form of various squint angle measurements in a darkened room.

Risks

While wearing a Marlow bandage, there are considerable limitations for the patient, for example with regard to his field of vision and spatial vision. Driving vehicles or using machines should therefore be avoided.

Interrupting binocular vision for several days is associated with a certain risk of decompensating any existing latent strabismus and thus triggering persistent double vision. A Marlow bandage should therefore only be carried out if the patient is appropriately indicated and given detailed information.

literature

• Herbert Kaufmann (Ed.): Strabismus. With the collaboration of Wilfried de Decker et al. Enke, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-432-95391-7 .
• FW Marlow: Prolonged Monocular Occlusion as a Test for the Muscle Balance. In: Transactions of the American Ophthalmological Society. Volume 18, 1920, pp. 275-290, PMID 16692524 , PMC 1318248 (free full text).
• Frederick W. Marlow: The Prolonged Occlusion Test. In: The British Journal of Ophthalmology. Vol. 14, No. 8, 1930, ISSN  0007-1161 , pp. 385-393, doi : 10.1136 / bjo.14.8.385 .
• Frederick W. Marlow: The Relative Position of Rest of the Eyes and the Prolonged Occlusion Test. FA Davis, Philadelphia PA 1924.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wendell L. Hughes: Prolonged Occlusion Test. In: Archives of Ophthalmology. Vol. 11, No. 2, February 1934, ISSN  0093-0326 , pp. 229-236, doi : 10.1001 / archopht.1934.00830090015002 .

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