Check ligaments: surgical effects in infantile esotropia.

In a prospective randomized study, we compared the results of surgical treatment of 25 patients with infantile esotropia, using bilateral medial rectus muscle recession of a graded amount without severing the check ligaments, to results obtained with a similar group of 23 patients in whom check ligaments were severed at the time of bimedial surgery. No significant difference could be found in the immediate postoperative and 6-month postoperative ocular alignment of the two groups.