ACUTE COMITANT ESOTROPIA - A SIGN OF INTRACRANIAL DISEASE

Most cases of comitant esotropia occur by early childhood,(1) but acute-onset comitant esotropia in a patient past amblyopiogenic age can herald a neurologic abnormality.(2,3) This is especially true when the acute esotropia is associated with diplopia or other neurologic signs and symptoms.(4) We describe a 15-year-old patient with acute-onset comitant esotropia secondary to a cerebellar astrocytoma. Other than diplopia and a subtle increase in headaches, there were no significant signs or symptoms suggestive of an intracranial lesion. This case is presented to show that acute comitant esotropia is not necessarily benign(5) and can be due to many central neurologic causes, including brain tumours.(1-5)