Initial postoperative plasticity as a predictor of mid-term stereoacuity outcome after surgery for intermittent exotropia

BACKGROUND: Intermittent exotropia (IXT) would cause different degrees of damage to stereopsis. We aimed to introduce a visual perception plasticity score (VPPS) that reflects initial postoperative plasticity and evaluate its effectiveness in predicting the mid-term surgical outcome in IXT patients. METHODS: A total of 149 patients with intermittent exotropia who underwent surgery in November 2018 and October 2019 were recruited. All subjects underwent detailed ocular examinations before and after surgery. VPPS were calculated based on visual perception examination system at one week postoperatively. Demographic, angle of deviation and stereopsis were collected and analyzed with regard to the VPPSs preoperatively and at one week, one month, three months, six months postoperatively. Predictive performances of VPPS were assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, the area under the curve (AUC) and cut-offs were obtained. RESULTS: Of the 149 patients, the average deviation was 43(Δ) at distance and 46(Δ) at near. The average rate of normal stereopsis before surgery was 22.81% at distance and 29.53% at near. Higher VPPS was associated with preoperative better near stereoacuity (r = 0.362, p = 0.000), less angle of deviation at distance (r=-0.164, p = 0.046), and better near (r = 0.400, p = 0.000) and distant stereoacuity (r = 0.321, p = 0.000) during the early postoperative period (1 week). The areas under the curves suggested that VPPS could be an effective predictor of sensory outcome(AUC>0.6). Cut-off values of 50 and 80 were calculated for VPPS using ROC curve analysis. CONCLUSION: Higher VPPSs were associated with a greater possibility of stereopsis improvement in patients with IXT. VPPS is a potentially promising indicator to predict the mid-term surgical outcome of intermittent exotropia.