Acute acquired comitant esotropia simulating late onset accommodative esotropia

Acute acquired comitant esotropia in the older child, adolescent, and young adult may represent uncorrected accommodative esotropia. Three young patients developed spontaneous diplopia associated with acute comitant esotropia. In all cases, cycloplegic refraction revealed high uncorrected hyperopia suggesting late onset accommodative esotropia. However, for one patient an intracranial neoplasm precipitated the strabismus and for the other patients the hyperopic correction did not alter the deviation. Clinicians confronted with older children or adolescent patients with acute comitant esotropia associated with large uncorrected hyperopia should not hastily classify the deviation as being accommodative in etiology. Although the latter is possible, the hyperopia may be coincidental and masking an underlying mechanism.