Recovery From Suppression With Successful Motor Alignment After Surgery for Intermittent Exotropia

PURPOSE

To investigate recovery from suppression when the target motor alignment is achieved following surgery for intermittent exotropia.

METHODS

The medical records of 237 patients who underwent surgery for exotropia were retrospectively reviewed. The age at surgery, sex, preoperative angle of deviation, suppression status, and near stereopsis were investigated. Suppression status was classified as no, alternate, or constant suppression. Target motor alignment was defined as 10 prism diopters (PD) or less of exodeviation or 2 PD of esodeviation at the final visit.

RESULTS

The mean age at surgery was 8.2 ± 3.2 years and 115 (48.5%) patients were male. The preoperative angle of deviation was 26.3 ± 5.9 PD and the follow-up postoperative period was 21.6 ± 7.6 months. The preoperative suppression status included 23 (9.7%), 55 (23.2%), and 159 (67.1%) patients who showed no, alternate, or constant suppression, respectively. Two hundred fifteen (90.7%) patients obtained the target motor alignment by the final visit. Of the 144 patients who demonstrated constant suppression preoperatively but achieved the target motor alignment postoperatively, 12 (8.3%) patients demonstrated residual suppression. All 12 of these patients had a preoperative angle of exotropia of greater than 20 PD.

CONCLUSIONS

Most patients undergoing surgery for intermittent exotropia obtained both successful motor alignment and fusion postoperatively. However, successful motor alignment did not guarantee recovery of suppression when the preoperative angle of exotropia was greater than 20 PD. The preoperative factors and functional implications underlying this finding are unclear and merit further study. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2020;57(1):21-26.].

Long-Term Surgical Outcomes of Augmented Bilateral Lateral Rectus Recession in Children With Intermittent Exotropia

PURPOSE

To compare the long-term surgical outcomes of augmented bilateral lateral rectus (LR) recession with original surgery.

DESIGN

Retrospective, nonrandomized clinical study.

METHODS

A total of 447 children with ≤35 prism diopters (PD) of basic and divergence excess-type intermittent exotropia, who underwent original bilateral LR recession based on the largest angle measured at distance and near, or augmentation surgery with the surgical dosage augmented by 1.0-1.5 mm more than the original formula were included. Patients were observed for at least 2 years. Success rates, cumulative probabilities of success, factors related to recurrence, and overcorrection were evaluated.

RESULTS

At a mean follow-up of 4.0 years, 48 of 101 patients (48%) undergoing original surgery maintained successful alignment within 10 PD of exophoria/tropia and 5 PD of esophoria/tropia; 49 (49%) had recurrence, and 3 (3%) had overcorrection. After augmented surgery, 203 of 346 patients (59%) were successfully aligned, 129 (37%) had recurrence, and 14 (4%) had overcorrection. Augmented surgery showed higher long-term successful alignment rates (P= .047) and lower recurrence rates compared to original surgery (P = .042) and the overcorrection rate was similar between the 2 groups (P= .774). Patients with divergence excess type showed higher cumulative success rates compared to that of the basic type (P = .010) after augmented surgery.

CONCLUSION

Augmented bilateral LR recession resulted in more successful alignment and lower recurrence without higher overcorrection compared to the original surgery for the children with intermittent exotropia. Augmentation of the original table should be considered when planning bilateral LR recession, especially in patients with divergence excess-type exotropia.