J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  2012 Jun;53(6):819-824.

Clinical Characteristics of Intermittent Exotropia Patients who Have Improved due to Corrected Refractive Errors

• Lee JY
• Ha SW
• Lew H

Abstract

PURPOSE
To evaluate clinical features of patients who have experienced decreased exodeviation after refractive error correction.
METHODS
Thirty-four patients who experienced decreased exodeviation after refractive error correction between 2003 and 2010 were evaluated. Visual acuity, refractive errors, reported age at onset, duration of wearing glasses, stereopsis, and function of fusion were evaluated.
RESULTS
The present study included 34 patients with intermittent exotropia. Before correcting refractive errors, the mean visual acuity was 0.34 +/- 0.27 for the right eye and 0.37 +/- 0.27 for the left eye according to log MAR. After refractive error correction, mean visual acuity improved to 0.12 +/- 0.11 for the right eye and 0.11 +/- 0.11 for the left eye according to log MAR. Before correcting refractive errors, the amount of deviation was 18.1 +/- 7.4 PD at near and 13.5 +/- 8.4 PD at far. However, after correcting refractive errors, the amount of deviation decreased to 5.8 +/- 8.6 PD at near and 4.5 +/- 7.6 PD at far (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
The clinical characteristics of children who have decreased exodeviation after correcting refractive errors is shown by a greater amount of deviation at near than at distance and good fusional vergence and stereoacuity. Because correcting refractive errors by wearing appropriate glasses can decrease exodeviation, the authors of the present study recommend correcting refractive errors as the initial management for exotropia.

Keyword

Intermittent exotropia; Myopia; Refractive errors

MeSH Terms

Child
Depth Perception
Exotropia
Eye
Eyeglasses
Glass
Humans
Myopia
Refractive Errors
Visual Acuity

Figure

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  Figure 1 Amount of deviation improved after correcting refractive errors.

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  Figure 2 Stereoacuity in patients.

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  Figure 3 Correlation of amount of corrected refractive errors and amount of deviation improved.

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