Intermittent Exotropia and Accommodative Esotropia: Distinct Disorders or Two Ends of a Spectrum?

Variability of Ocular Deviation in Strabismus

“…This value may be greater than in other forms of strabismus because deviation angle is particularly variable in intermittent exotropia. 6,22,30,31 In patients with a small deviation, the position of the deviated eye is likely to be more stable, particularly if some binocular function is preserved. 32–34 It would be worthwhile to test whether occlusion of the deviating eye affects the stability of its position.…”

Assessment of Cortical Dysfunction in Patients with Intermittent Exotropia: An fMRI Study

“…Another studies concentrated their attention on binocular vision. The defective binocular fusion was more considered as the possible cause of intermittent exotropia [ 6 – 8 ].…”

Re: Brodsky et al.: Intermittent exotropia and accommodative esotropia: distinct disorders or two ends of a spectrum? (Ophthalmology 2015;122:1543-6)

“…REPLY: In our randomized trial comparing part-time patching with observation for intermittent exotropia in children 12 to 35 months of age, we reported the incidence of deterioration of intermittent exotropia for each group over a 6-month period. 1 We did not measure orbital parameters and we are therefore unable to comment on any association between intermittent exotropia and orbital anatomy. The potential effects of differences in orbital anatomy between patients, or potential effects of longitudinal changes in orbital anatomy, were minimized by our random allocation of treatment assignments in this study.…”

“…They state that "prolonged patching causes it (exotropia) to become manifest." 1 Mohney et al 2 investigated the treatment of intermittent exotropia with patching, but do not explain how interfering with binocular function would preserve "binocularity and a reduction in the frequency and/or magnitude of the exodeviation." 2 The inclusion of an untreated control group assists in determining that patching is not a useful treatment for intermittent exotropia.…”