Abnormalities of the vestibulo-ocular response in congenital esotropia.

In 32 infants with congenital esotropia, I measured the vestibuloocular response. The eight patients with nystagmus compensation syndrome exhibited brisk responses. Fourteen of the 24 who had estropia without nystagmus had severely diminished responses and the other ten had moderate responses. Vestibulo-ocular testing is useful in detecting subtle forms of nystagmus compensation syndrome, especially in young infants, in whom thorough examination of ductions and versions is difficult. Dysfunction of the vestibular system is not necessarily a primary cause of congenital estropia, but brain-stem function in patients with congenital esotropia should be studied further.