Outcome study of the development of fusion in patients aligned for congenital esotropia in relation to duration of misalignment.

PURPOSE

The results of recent studies have shown that the presence and quality of stereopsis in patients with congenital esotropia and subsequent surgically alignment are dependent upon the duration of the misalignment during the first 2 years of life. The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence of fusion in patients with different durations of misalignment whose eyes were aligned at different ages by age 2 years.

METHODS

Data previously obtained in a study of 90 patients with congenital esotropia aligned by 2 years of age, examined in a masked independent evaluation for binocularity, were analyzed. Patient age at alignment and duration of misalignment were correlated with the presence of fusion.

RESULTS

Fusion was present in 94% of all patients aligned by age 2 years and in 94% of patients with < or =21 months of misalignment. There was no statistically significant difference between those aligned by 6, 12, or 24 months (P > 0.05, power = 0.8). No significant difference was found between those aligned with duration of misalignment < or = 6, between 7 and 12, or between 13 and 21 months.

CONCLUSION

Unlike the findings of stereopsis studies, there was no significant difference in the proportion of patients who achieved fusion in congenital esotropes who had up to 21 months of misalignment and whose eyes were aligned at different ages within the first 24 months of life.