Good binocular results in children with early-onset exotropia

The surgical outcomes for children treated for constant early-onset exotropia demonstrated good binocular results, claims a study in the journal Eye.

A research team led by Dr S. Y. Suh, Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, examined the medical records of 45 exotropia patients with a reported onset before one year of age. All patients were operated on between 2008 and 2011 and clinical characteristics and surgical outcomes were analysed retrospectively.

Patients were divided into either a constant exotropia group (XT) or and intermittent group (X(T)). The team compared clinical features and surgical results of exotropia between the two groups. The mean age at surgery was 4.5±2.4 years and the mean postoperative follow-up period was 17.3 months.

Of the total patients reviewed, 67% demonstrated an alignment of less than ±10 prism diopters (PD) at the final visit. In all 34 testable patients, gross stereopsis was achieved and bifixation was developed in 10 patients. There were no significant differences between the groups with regards to surgical success rates and binocularities.

Both motor and sensory surgical outcomes were not poor in early-onset exotropia patients, even in those with constant deviation.

The abstract can be read here.