Predictors of nonsurgical consecutive exotropia following accommodative esotropia.

PURPOSE: To identify the incidence of and risk factors for development of spontaneous consecutive exotropia during management of fully accommodative esotropia with optical correction.

METHODS

The medical records of patients who presented with an initial diagnosis of fully accommodative esotropia and converted to exotropia during their management were reviewed retrospectively. Patients with a minimum of 3 years' follow-up were included. The following data were extracted from the record: age of onset, refractive error, glasses prescription, angles of deviation, visual acuity, and stereoacuity.

RESULTS

A total of 178 children with fully accommodative esotropia were identified. Mean age of esotropia onset was 2.3 ±1.4 years; of initial glasses prescription, 2.9 ± 1.5 years. We calculated the mean spherical equivalent by averaging the values of both eyes for each patient. Mean spherical equivalent of both eyes was +4.3 ± 1.8 D. The mean follow-up was 6.9 ± 3.7 years. Consecutive exotropia developed in 31 children (17.4%) at a mean of 3.5 ± 3.6 years after prescription of spectacles. Children who developed consecutive exotropia had a higher initial spherical error (P = 0.02), higher initial cylindrical error (P = 0.01), and higher prevalence of neurological problems (P = 0.01) on multivariable analysis. Higher prevalence of amblyopia (P < 0.001) and vertical deviation (P < 0.001) were detected in the spontaneous exodeviation group on univariate analysis only. There was no statistically significant difference between spontaneous exotropia following accommodative esotropia and accommodative esotropia groups as a whole in terms of age of onset, the age of initiation of spectacles, angles of deviation, stereoacuity, or the time of initiation of reduction of hyperopic prescription.

CONCLUSIONS

High hyperopia (≥5 D), high astigmatic errors (≥1.5 D), and presence of neurological problems are risk factors for development of spontaneous exotropia among accommodative esotropia patients. Long-term follow-up is recommended for patients who have identifiable risk factors.