Nonsurgical management of binocular diplopia induced by macular pathology

OBJECTIVE

To treat binocular diplopia secondary to macular pathology.

METHODS

Seven patients underwent evaluation and treatment. All had constant vertical diplopia caused by various maculopathies, including subretinal neovascularization, epiretinal membrane, and central serous retinopathy. Visual acuity ranged from 20/20 to 20/30 in the affected eye. All except 1 patient had a small-angle, comitant hyperdeviation with no muscle paresis. Sensory evaluation demonstrated peripheral fusion and reduced stereoacuity. Neither prism correction nor manipulation of the refractive errors corrected the diplopia. A partially occlusive foil (Bangerter) of density ranging from 0.4 to 1.0 was placed in front of the affected eye to restore stable, single vision.

RESULTS

The Bangerter foil eliminated the diplopia in all patients. Two patients elected not to wear the foil; 1 patient was afraid of becoming dependent, and the other was bothered by the visual blur. Visual acuity in the affected eye was reduced on average by 3 lines. All patients maintained the same level of sensory fusion, with only 2 having reduced stereoacuity. Symptoms returned when the foil was removed or its density was reduced.

CONCLUSION

Low-density Bangerter foils provide an effective, inexpensive, and aesthetically acceptable management for refractory binocular diplopia induced by macular pathology, allowing peripheral fusion to be maintained.

Large-angle exotropia corrected by intraoperative botulinum toxin A and monocular recession resection surgery

PURPOSE

Surgical correction of large-angle exotropia, greater than 70 PD, traditionally requires operating on three or four horizontal muscles. However, in secondary exotropia from monocular visual loss, it is advisable to operate only on the eye with poor vision. We used intraoperative botulinum toxin as an adjunct to the monocular recession-resection procedure for large-angle sensory exotropia, therefore operating only on the visually impaired eye.

METHODS

Three patients underwent monocular recession (10 mm) and resection (10 mm) along with intraoperative botulinum toxin A injection of 10 units into the recessed muscle. All had desired cosmetic repair of long-standing large-angle exotropia (range 100 to 110 PD) with amblyopia and vision worse than 20/200 in the deviated eye.

RESULTS

Within 4 days after operation all patients demonstrated maximal paresis of the lateral rectus muscle. This lasted 8 to 12 weeks and resulted in stable orthotropia at 2.5 years in case 1 and stable 8 PD exotropia at 4 years in case 2. The third case demonstrated a stable 18 PD exotropia by 7 months with a satisfactory cosmetic result.

CONCLUSION

This technique provides an alternative for the surgical correction of large-angle exotropia by operating only on two horizontal muscles. In sensory exotropia it also avoids subjecting a normal eye to an operative risk.