Long term motor and sensory outcome after surgery for infantile esotropia and risk factors for residual and consecutive deviations

Purpose: To present long-term motor and sensory outcomes after surgery for infantile esotropia and assess risk factors for residual and consecutive deviations. Methods: Data of infantile esotropia patients operated between 2002 and 2016 with minimum follow-up of 2 years were retrospectively reviewed. Results: Among a total of 62 patients, 35 had a successful motor outcome (alignment within 10 PD from orthotropia) after one surgery (Group A), while 27 required horizontal reoperation (Group B). Patients with residual esotropia had larger preoperative angle of deviation (P = .005) and younger age at first surgery (P = .01), while consecutive exotropia was associated with longer follow-up (P = .03) and higher rate of DVD (P = .003) compared to patients in Group A. Stereopsis was present in 30.3% of patients in Group A and associated with younger age at first surgery (P = .03). Conclusions: Successful motor alignment may be obtained with single surgery in infantile esotropia; however, reoperations are common. Younger age at first surgery may be associated with both higher rate of stereopsis and risk of reoperation. Careful preoperative assessment and surgical timing, with long-term postoperative follow-up is required to achieve satisfactory outcome.