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STRABISMUS
Causes
Extra ocular muscles: This is the 6th muscles of the eye that
attaches to the outside of each eye responsible for eye
movement. The other 4 muscles are responsible for vertical,
horizontal and angular movement. Strabismus can be
caused by a brain disorder that is unable to coordinate the
eyes or a muscle disorder where one muscle fails to do its
function.
What is strabismus?
Treatment
Strabismus is a disorder commonly known as crossed eyes
or walleyes. An individual with strabismus has difficulty
aligning both of their eyes. This can be classified as
bilateral, unilateral or alternating.
Bilateral: Both Eyes
Unilateral: One Eye
Alternating: Alternating eyes where one is focused and one
is not.
Treatment includes:
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Glasses
Eye exercise to strengthen the weak eye muscles
Surgery
Eye Patch: A patch that covers the strong eye
encouraging the weak eye to strengthen the
muscles.
Prisms: Modifies the way light and an image is in
the eye.
Eyes can also be classified in the direction they turn:
Esotropic Strabismus: Eyes that turn inward towards the
nose. This is the most common form of strabismus and
have a onset by the age of 6 months. This type of
strabismus will usually worsen with age.
Exotropic Strabismus: Eye that turn outward away from the
nose. This type will usually require surgery, but some cases
can be treated with glasses. Children with this type of
strabismus tend to squint their eyes in the sun. The degree
of turn in the eye is more when looking at objects in a
distance.
Hypertropic Strabismus: This is where one eye turns up and
one eye turns down. This type can exist with other types of
strabismus.
Surgery
Surgery will attempt to realign the eyes as close
to normal as possible. A adult can expect to
receive near perfect alignment and improved
depth perception. A child will never regain
perfect alignment, because the brain is
responsible for vision. A child with strabismus
will have an underdeveloped portion of the brain.
This is called amblyopia.
References:
AAPOS. (2010). Strabismus. American Association for Pediatric
Ophthalmology and Strabismus. Retrieved June 28, 2010, from
http://www.aapos.org/
Who has strabismus?
It is estimated that 5% of children have some form of
strabismus. Initially children may have double vision, but
sometimes the brain will disregard the vision of one eye
called, suppression. In many cases a child’s signs and
symptoms are shown at birth or shortly after. This is
called congenital strabismus.
Acquired Stravismus: Adults can also develop
strabismus from an injury to the eye orbit, health
problems or a family history of strabismus can be a
risk factor. Other primary causes include: Diabetes,
Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury and Shell Fish
Poisoning to name a few.
A.D.A.M. INC. (1997). Strabismus. Google Health. Retrieved June 26,
2010, from https://health.google.com/health/ref/Strabismus
Optometrists Network, Initials. (1996). Strabismus. AboutStrabismus -Cross-eyed, Squint, Lazy Eye -- All Types and Treatments-- Stereoblind, Stereopsis, Stereo Vision, stereovision, Crossed-eyes.
Retrieved June 26, 2010, from http://www.strabismus.org
Strabismus. (2007). Strabismus. Retrieved June 26, 2010, from
http://strabismus.com/
Subramanian, MD, M. (2008, July 28). Strabismus: MedlinePlus
Medical Encyclopedia. National Library of Medicine - National
Institutes of Health. Retrieved June 26, 2010, from
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001004.htm