Role of Botulinum Toxin Type A in Cyclic Esotropia: A Long-Term Follow-up

To describe two patients with childhood cyclic esotropia 8 and 9 years after they underwent botulinum toxin type A treatment to report its long-term outcome.

Two patients with sudden onset cyclic esotropia aged 2 and 4 years were included. Botulinum toxin type A injections were performed on the appropriate muscles.

The first patient was a 2-year-old boy with left dominant alternating esotropia on a cyclic basis. His strabismus ranged from 25 to 45 prism diopters (PD) at near and distance. A botulinum toxin type A injection into the left medial rectus muscle revealed orthotropia at near and distance with a stereopsis of 60 seconds of arc (arcsec). During the 9 years of follow-up, he remained stable. The second patient was a 4-year-old girl who complained of double vision and strabismus. Her deviation was 40 PD at near and 35 PD at distance on a cyclic pattern. She became orthotropic with glasses after a bimedial botulinum toxin A injection. During the 8 years of follow-up, she remained stable with a stereo-acuity of 120 arcsec.

Considering the consecutive and recurrent deviations with surgical treatment in previous reports, botulinum toxin type A is an appropriate first-line option for the treatment of cyclic deviations, despite its limitations. The results suggest that botulinum toxin type A is an effective method to break the cycle in cyclic esotropia permanently. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2019;56(6):360-364.].