Visual Midline Shift Syndrome Treatment

(or Egocentric Spatial Localization Shift Syndrome Treatment)

Visual midline shift syndrome (also known as egocentric spatial localization shift) is a condition characterized by a perceived shift or misalignment of the visual midlines, which include the imaginary vertical line that divides the field of vision into left and right, and the imaginary horizontal line that divides the field of vision into top (above the eyes) and bottom (below the eyes).

Visual midline shift syndrome typically occurs following a neurological injury, such as a mild traumatic brain injury or stroke, and affects the perception and processing of spatial visual information.

Often a consequence of a visual-vestibular mismatch, individuals with a visual midline shift may experience a variety of symptoms and perceptual disturbances.  

This can include:

• Perceiving objects as tilted or shifted to one side, even though they are actually centred
• Inaccurately judging distances, directions or spatial relationships between objects 
• Poor eye-hand coordination or accidentally bumping into objects
• Balance and postural instability
• Visual neglect (a condition in which individuals demonstrate lack of awareness of stimuli on one side of space, despite intact sensory perception)

Treatment of visual midline shift syndrome typically involves vision rehabilitation strategies directed at retraining the brain to accurately perceive midline and improve spatial awareness, and may include the use of yoked prism lenses^[1].

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^[1] Padula WV, Argyris S. Post trauma vision syndrome and visual midline shift syndrome. NeuroRehabilitation. 1996;6(3):165-71.