Purpose: To complete the first independent and largest multicenter outcome investigation to analyze the motor and functional results of a series of patients surgically aligned prior to age 6 months and followed for a minimum of 4 years.
Methods: Sixteen patients, surgically aligned at an average age of 4.2 months, were examined at an average of 7.1 years to assess their motor and functional outcomes.
Results: Motor and sensory tests showed 11 patients to have a small or negligible motor misalignment at near point with both binocular fusion and gross stereopsis ability. A single patient aligned by 3 months of age demonstrated reproducible refined stereoacuity on sensory testing. However, the patients who achieved alignment by 4 or 5 months did not demonstrate any better quality of binocularity than that found in a previously studied group of patients aligned at 6 months.
Conclusion: Binocularity that includes refined stereoacuity remains an elusive target and a rare outcome for an ophthalmologist treating congenital esotropia, despite very early surgical alignment.