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Development of acuity and stereopsis in infants with esotropia
Insights
Early intervention for infantile esotropia, using prisms, can preserve binocularity in young children. However, older children with a history of esotropia, even without intervention, often show a failure in stereopsis.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Pediatric Vision
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Infantile esotropia is a common form of strabismus in infants.
- Assessing binocularity and stereopsis in infants presents unique challenges.
- Understanding the long-term visual development in treated and untreated esotropia is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate visual acuity and stereopsis in infants and toddlers with esotropia.
- To assess the impact of early prism correction on binocularity development.
- To compare visual outcomes in treated versus untreated infantile esotropia.
Main Methods:
- Utilized newly developed preferential looking procedures to measure visual acuity and stereopsis.
- Included 19 infants and toddlers with esotropia, 36 normal infants, and 7 children with refractive anomalies.
- Employed a polaroid bar stereogram procedure with 1800 seconds of arc disparity for binocularity assessment.
Main Results:
- Children with infantile esotropia treated with prisms showed some binocularity up to 2.5 years of age.
- A few untreated children failed stereopsis tests in the first two years.
- All older subjects (over 6 years) with a history of infantile esotropia failed the stereopsis test.
Conclusions:
- Early prism correction for infantile esotropia may support the development of binocular vision in early childhood.
- Stereopsis appears to be compromised in older children with a history of infantile esotropia, regardless of early intervention.
- Further research is needed to understand the critical periods for visual development in strabismus.
Abstract:
Visual acuity and stereopsis of 19 esotropic infants and toddlers, 36 normal infants and 7 children with refractive anomalies were measured during the first three years of life using newly developed preferential looking procedures. Children with infantile esotropia corrected with prisms equal in size to the deviation show some degree of binocularity up to at least 21/2 years, as measured by a polaroid bar stereogram procedure with a 1800 seconds of arc disparity. A few children, who did not receive any therapeutic intervention, failed this test during the first and second year. However, all older subjects (over 6 years of age) with a history of infantile esotropia failed the test.