Predictive factors of stereopsis outcomes following strabismus surgery

PURPOSE: To determine the predictive factors of post-operative stereopsis in patients with strabismus. METHOD: In this retrospective study, records of patients who received surgical treatment for strabismus were reviewed. All types of strabismus were included. Pre- and post-treatment stereoacuity were measured using the Titmus Stereo Fly test, and predictive factors of stereopsis were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 194 patients (132 females and 62 males) with a mean age of 14.8 ± 8.4 years were included. There was a statistically significant improvement in stereopsis following surgery (p value < 0.001). Patients with a higher amount of deviation at baseline had poorer stereopsis on the final examination (p value < 0.001). Stereopsis improvement was more prominent in the pure horizontal strabismus group, compared to combined horizontal and vertical deviations. Baseline and the final stereopsis were higher in the “exotropia” group as compared to the “esotropia” group (p value = 0.003 and 0.0155, respectively); however, the within group change of stereopsis was not significantly different between these two groups (p value = 0.144). Post surgical residual deviation was associated with a poorer stereopsis (p value = 0.002, r = 0.251). A longer duration of strabismus before surgery was associated with poorer final stereopsis levels (p value = 0.026). The presence of amblyopia before surgery was associated with poorer stereopsis on last examination (p value < 0.001 for both correlations). CONCLUSION: Based on the result of this study, final stereopsis after strabismus surgery could be affected by the type, duration, and the amount of deviation before surgery, amblyopia, and post operative ocular deviation.