Surgical outcomes of acute acquired comitant esotropia of adulthood

BACKGROUND: Acute acquired comitant esotropia (AACE) is a type of strabismus characterized by a sudden onset of large angle esotropia with diplopia, which often occurs in children after infancy, teenagers, and young adolescents. However, studies on the surgical outcomes of only adults are rare. The purpose of this article is to analyze the surgical outcomes for adult patients diagnosed with AACE. METHODS: Medical records of 24 patients who had undergone surgery for AACE were retrospectively analyzed. The main outcome measures were the final motor and sensory success rate after surgery and factors affecting motor and sensory outcomes. Motor success was considered alignment within 8 prism diopter (PD) at both near and distance and sensory success was stereoacuity ≥ 60 sec/arc. RESULTS: The preoperative mean esodeviation angles were 33.1 ± 10.4 PD at distance and 33.3 ± 11.2 PD at near. The mean period of postoperative follow up was 7.5 ± 4.5 months (range 1–8 months). The postoperative mean esodeviation angles at final follow-up time were 3.4 ± 6.1 PD at distance and 3.8 ± 6.7 PD at near. The surgical motor success rate at final follow-up was 79.2% (19/24). The sensory success rate at final follow-up was 50.0% (12/24). The factor affecting the motor outcome was the type of surgery (p < 0.05). The factor affecting sensory outcome was postoperative follow-up time (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Surgery type appears to affect surgical motor outcomes in adults with AACE. Although the sensory outcome was favorable, it seems that regaining bifoveal fixation takes time.