Introduction: Congenital esotropia is a convergent deviation of the eyes when fixating on an object. It appears during the first six months of life and affects muscle structure and physiology, as well as the relation of the eyes with the environment, retinal relations and neural integration phenomena. Amblyopia develops in 30-50% of those affected. Timely surgery is effective in most cases.
Objective: Describe surgical results in congenital esotropia cases treated in the Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Service of the Ramon Pando Ferrer Ophthalmology Institute in Havana between January 2008 and May 2009.
Methods: A descriptive, retrospective study was carried out through review of 127 cases (aged 1-18 years, 55 male and 72 female) operated on for congenital esotropia between January 2008 and May [corrected] 2009. Variables used were: age at surgery, degree of preoperative amblyopia, type of fixation, refractive error, associated conditions, type of surgery performed and pre- and postoperative deviation angles.
Results: The largest number of congenital esotropia cases were found in children <2 years old (38.6%). Before surgery, 37% of cases studied showed mild amblyopia; 22.8% moderate and 12.6% severe; 27.6% did not cooperate with visual acuity testing. With respect to fixation: 91.3% showed central fixation and 8.7% eccentric. Refractive errors found were: mild hyperopia (65.4%), moderate hyperopia (29.1%), and myopia (5.5%). Associated conditions were: overaction of the inferior oblique muscles (48%), latent nystagmus (16.5%), and dissociated vertical deviation (8.7%); no alterations were found in 26.8% of cases. The most frequently used surgical treatment was bilateral medial rectus muscle recession (92.1%). The most common preoperative deviation angle range was 31–40 prism diopters (PD) in 51.9% of patients; the postoperative deviation angle most commonly found after 12 months was <10 PD in 64.6% (orthotropia).
Conclusions: Surgery, most commonly with medial rectus muscle resection, was effective in correcting congenital esotropia.