Exotropia is a form of strabismus
Strabismus
Inward or outward misalignment of the eye.
What is exotropia and what causes it?
What Is Exotropia? Exotropia is a common form of strabismus characterized by an outward eye turn, away from the nose. Exotropia is a eye turn where one eye points outwards, this may be noticed while the child is looking at distance objects, near objects or both.
What is the difference between exophoria and esophoria?
Esophoria, like exophoria, is a condition that causes one eye to turn when covered. The difference between the two conditions involves the direction in which the eye drifts or turns. Esophoria causes an inward eye turn, as the eye drifts toward the nose.
What is exophoria and how is it treated?
Exophoria is a condition of the eyes. When you have exophoria, there’s a problem with how your eyes coordinate their movements. It occurs when your eyes tend to drift outward or one eye drifts away from the other.
What is exophoria and how does it affect your eyes?
When you have exophoria, there’s a problem with how your eyes coordinate their movements. It occurs when your eyes tend to drift outward or one eye drifts away from the other. It’s most common in situations where one of your eyes is covered and doesn’t have the same visual stimulation as the other eye.
Can you have exotropia and exophoria?
Untreated exophoria often intensifies into exotropia. Exotropia may happen only sometimes during certain situations. It may happen more often if it runs in your family, if you've recently gotten eye surgery, or if you have additional vision problems. Esophoria.
What is the difference between exophoria and strabismus?
Strabismus is when there's a deviation of the eyes that you cannot control. Both exophoria and exotropia are conditions that cause the eyes to drift outward. Both conditions may also be referred to as convergence insufficiency if they occur when you're using your eyes to see nearby objects.
What is exophoria?
Exophoria is an eye condition that affects binocular vision and eye alignment. A person with exophoria will experience one of their eyes drifting outward, and their eyes will have difficulty working together.
What is the difference between exotropia and esotropia?
Esotropia and exotropia are types of strabismus, which is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned. Esotropia means that one eye is deviated inward and is often called crossed eyes. Exotropia is when one or both eyes look outward, often called wall-eyed.
How do you check for exophoria?
Exophoria is diagnosed through a series of tests called “cover tests” that are performed by an eye doctor. This can include cover-uncover tests and cross cover tests (sometimes called alternate cover tests), both of which can help detect an eye misalignment problem.
What causes an exotropia?
Causes of exotropia Exotropia occurs when there's an imbalance in eye muscles or when there's a signaling issue between the brain and eye. Sometimes a health condition, like cataracts or stroke, can cause this to occur. The condition may also be inherited.
What is exotropia of the eye?
Exotropia is a type of eye misalignment, where one eye deviates outward. The deviation may be constant or intermittent, and the deviating eye may always be one eye or may alternate between the two eyes.
Is exotropia the same as lazy eye?
Most people automatically use the term Lazy Eye when an eye crosses or turns outward. As stated above, an eye that moves on its own is a sign of Amblyopia or Lazy Eye, but Strabismus is the condition that one or both eyes turns inwards (esotropia) or out (exotropia).
Can exotropia be corrected?
Exotropia can be corrected, especially if the condition is diagnosed early. Glasses, prisms, vision therapy, can be used to reduce the outward-turning eye. Exotropia surgery is also a safe and effective method for correcting exotropia.
What's the difference between lazy eye and crossed eyes?
Definition. Crossed eyes is when both eyes do not look in the same direction at the same time. Lazy eye is a condition in which one eye fails to develop clear vision. This occurs for reasons other than an eye health problem and cannot be corrected with glasses alone.
What are the types of exotropia?
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF EXOTROPIA? Exotropia may be congenital (present at birth) or acquired. The acquired forms of exotropia include intermittent exotropia, sensory exotropia, and consecutive exotropia (exotropia that develops after surgery to treat crossed eyes).
Do people with exotropia see different?
Exotropia is a form of strabismus where the eyes are deviated outward. It is the opposite of esotropia and usually involves more severe axis deviation than exophoria. People with exotropia often experience crossed diplopia....ExotropiaExotropia of both eyesSpecialtyOphthalmology2 more rows
What are the conditions that are similar to exophoria?
There are several conditions that are similar to, or may include, exophoria. The following are some of these associated conditions: convergence insufficiency. strabismus. exotropia. eye-tracking. eye-teaming. Complications include difficulty with reading and reading comprehension.
When does exophoria occur?
It may also occur when looking at things that are close to your eyes, like when reading. If exophoria occurs when looking at objects in the distance , it may be called divergence excess (DE). Exophoria is usually discovered during childhood.
What is the term for the condition where the eyes drift outward and away from each other?
Exotropia is a condition in which the eyes drift outward and away from each other during times of equal visual stimulation. It tends to occur regularly. Exotropia is a form of strabismus. Strabismus is when there’s a deviation of the eyes that you cannot control. Both exophoria and exotropia are conditions that cause the eyes to drift outward.
What is it called when your eyes drift outward?
Exophoria is a condition of the eyes. When you have exophoria, there’s a problem with how your eyes coordinate their movements. It occurs when your eyes tend to drift outward or one eye drifts away from the other.
What are the symptoms of exophoria?
Other symptoms of exophoria may include: headaches. sore eyes. difficulty reading (especially in children) low reading comprehension.
What causes exophyria?
What are the causes? The underlying cause of exophoria isn’t clearly known. However, the primary issue of exophoria is a weakness in the eye muscles. This muscle weakness causes difficulty in what is called eye-teaming, or the ability to get the eyes to work together.
How to treat exophyria?
Some of the treatment options for exophoria may include the following: Corrective lenses. These may or may not include the use of prisms. Eye exercises. One such exercise is the pencil pushup. To perform pencil pushups: Hold a pencil in front of your face and focus on one of the words on its side.
What is the difference between esophoria and exophoria?
The difference between the two conditions involves the direction in which the eye drifts or turns. Esophoria causes an inward eye turn, as the eye drifts toward the nose.
Why does exophoria occur?
Some experts believe that exophoria occurs during near vision tasks because the eyes are required to move from word to word, which may place strain on an eye with weak muscles.
How to tell if your child has exophoria?
Through a comprehensive eye and vision evaluation, your eye doctor will be able to determine the presence of exophoria using specialized tests. The outward eye movement is noticed during the cover test, when one eye is covered. If you think your child may be showing signs of an eye turn, it is crucial that you schedule an appointment ...
Why does my eye drift outward?
Some experts believe that exophoria occurs during near vision tasks because the eyes are required to move from word to word, which may place strain on an eye with weak muscles. Therefore, exophoria may result from the visual strain placed on the non-dominant eye— causing it to drift outward.
What are the symptoms of exophoria?
Exophoria typically presents in childhood or high school. The most common symptom is an outward eye turn that occurs when the eye is covered. Double vision. Blurred vision. Words appear to move on a page. Eyestrain. Headaches. Difficulty concentrating. Difficulty with reading fluency.
What is the best treatment for exophoria?
Vision therapy is usually essential for the treatment of exophoria. Vision therapy may involve the use of specialized tools such as prisms, a series of eye exercises, computer or virtual reality games and vectograms.
What is the name of the movement of the eye that is outward?
Exotropia- the outward eye movement is more frequent and noticeable. This is a type of strabismus (eye turn) that tends to occur regularly, and is easily noticed by parents or teachers when the one eye points outwards.
What is the difference between amblyopia and exophoria?
With amblyopia, your brain relies more often on one eye, which can weaken muscles in your other eye. Diagnosing Exophoria. An eye doctor can diagnose exophoria with a vision test.
When does exophoria start?
Exophoria symptoms usually first appear early in life, from elementary to high school. It tends to happen while you’re looking at things close to your eyes, like reading, writing, or using a computer. It’s also likely to happen while you cover one of your eyes. Symptoms can include:
What is it called when your eyes drift outward?
Exophoria is a condition in which your eyes drift outward out of your control. It usually appears for a short time while you’re doing certain types of tasks. It’s not a serious condition and can be corrected with the right treatment.
Why do my eyes look crossed?
This can make you look like your eyes are crossed. Like exophoria, esophoria symptoms appear when you’re looking at something close up or when you cover one eye. Lazy eye (amblyopia). Like exophoria, a lazy eye causes one eye to drift outward regularly.
How to diagnose exophyria?
Diagnosing Exophoria. An eye doctor can diagnose exophoria with a vision test. They’ll also ask about your symptoms. . To find problems with eye coordination, they’ll likely perform a cover test. This involves covering one of your eyes slowly or quickly. They'll observe your eye movements during the process.
What does it mean when your eye drifts out?
Your eyes split paths (diverge) farther than they’re supposed to. Exophoria can include symptoms of divergence excess. . Convergence insufficiency. This is when your eye drifts out when you’re looking at objects very close to your face.
Can exotropia happen more often?
With exotropia, the drifting happens more often and more noticeably. Untreated exophoria often intensifies into exotropia. Exotropia may happen only sometimes during certain situations. It may happen more often if it runs in your family, if you’ve recently gotten eye surgery, or if you have additional vision problems.
What is intermittent exotropia?
Intermittent exotropia is a condition in which there are times when one eye has drifted outwards, and other times when the eyes are straight. Some patients or family members notice the exotropia more when the patient is tired or daydreaming. Sometimes the exotropia is noticed more when the patient is looking in the distance.
Why do children with intermittent exotropia close their eyes?
The exact reason people with intermittent exotropia close one eye in bright light remains unknown. In any case, when the eye is closed, the child cannot use both eyes together.
What is the term for the outward turning of the eyes?
Congenital or infantile exotropia is an outward turning of the eyes from birth or early infancy. Esotropia (in-crossing of the eyes) is much more common than exotropia in infants. Constant exotropia in an infant should be evaluated by a pediatric ophthalmologist to evaluate for any associated medical conditions.
What is the opposite of crossed eyes?
Exotropia is a form of strabismus (eye misalignment) in which one or both of the eyes turn outward. It is the opposite of crossed eyes, or esotropia. Exotropia may occur from time to time (intermittent exotropia) or may be constant, and is found in every age group [See figures 1 and 2]. Fig. 1: Eyes aligned.
Is exotropia congenital?
Exotropia may be congenital (present at birth) or acquired. The acquired forms of exotropia include intermittent exotropia, sensory exotropia, and consecutive exotropia (exotropia that develops after surgery to treat crossed eyes).
Does visual activity affect exotropia?
Normal visual activities have no effect on exotropia. However, for other health reasons, parents are encouraged to limit the time their children spend watching TV, playing video games, and sitting at their computers.
Why does exotropia occur?
Exotropia occurs when there’s an imbalance in eye muscles or when there’s a signaling issue between the brain and eye. Sometimes a health condition, like cataracts or stroke, can cause this to occur. The condition may also be inherited.
What is acquired exotropia?
Acquired exotropia. This type of exotropia is the result of a disease, trauma, or other health condition, particularly those that affect the brain. For example, stroke or Down syndrome may increase your risk for this condition.
How much of eye misalignment is caused by exotropia?
While it can affect anyone at any age, it’s commonly diagnosed early in life. Exotropia accounts for up to 25 percent of all eye misalignments in young children. Read on to learn more about this condition.
What is it called when your eyes turn outward?
Exotropia is a type of strabismus, which is a misalignment of the eyes. Exotropia is a condition in which one or both eyes turn outward away from the nose. It’s the opposite of crossed eyes.
What is constant exotropia?
Constant exotropia. This occurs when the eye turn is present all of the time, at all distances. This type of strabismus occurs less frequently than the intermittent type. Treatment for this condition should be prescribed early in order to recover proper binocular vision.
What is intermittent exotropia?
Intermittent exotropia. This the most common form of exotropia, occurs when the eye turn is only present occasionally. In many cases, the eye turn may only be visible during stressful situations or when the person is tired or ill— this can lead to a late diagnosis since the vision condition is difficult to notice.
What is the difference between esotropia and exotropia?
What are esotropia and exotropia? Esotropia and exotropia are types of strabismus, which is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned. Esotropia means that one eye is deviated inward and is often called crossed eyes. Exotropia is when one or both eyes look outward, often called wall-eyed.
What causes esotropia and exotropia?
Causes of esotropia and exotropia are mostly unknown. Children with a family history of the disorder are more likely to get them. They are also common in children who have other systemic (chromosomal or neurologic) disorders. No known cause (idiopathic); possibly familial. Down syndrome.
How to treat exotropia in children?
Surgery on the eye muscles to realign the eyes. Treatment options for children with exotropia include: Glasses. Exercises or an eye patch over the strong eye to strengthen vision in the weak eye. Surgery on the eye muscles. Learn more about our Ophthalmology program at Children's National. Children's Team Departments.
How to treat esotropia?
Among the treatment options for esotropia are: Glasses to correct vision problems such as nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism. Patching of the good eye, to improve vision in the lazy (amblyopic) eye. Surgery on the eye muscles to realign the eyes.
When does exotropia resolve?
Small exophorias are found in high frequency in the normal population and 60-70% of normal newborn infants have a transient exodeviation that resolves by 4-6 months of age (1-3). Intermittent exotropia is an exodeviation intermittently controlled by fusional mechanisms.
How many groups are there in intermittent exotropia?
Intermittent exotropia has been divided into four groups according to the classification system proposed by Burian 18. This system is based upon the concept of fusional convergence and divergence and relies on measurements of the distance and near deviations.
How many prism diopters are needed for esotropia?
Consecutive esotropia (Overcorrection): As mentioned before a small consecutive esotropia of up to 10 prism diopters is a desirable postoperative result in children. Even a moderate consecutive esotroia of up to 20 prism diopters may resolve without further surgery.
When is tropia most noticeable?
The tropia phase of intermittent exotropia is most noticeable when the child is tired or sick or when they are day dreaming. Adult patients may manifest exodeviation after imbibing alcoholic beverages or taking sedatives.
What are exodeviations caused by?
Duane championed the view that exodeviations are caused by an innervational imbalance that upsets the reciprocal relationship between active convergence and divergence mechanisms 7. Bielschowsky questioned Duane's claim that the majority of exodeviations are based on hyperactive tonic divergence. According to him Duane's theory did not take into account the abnormal position of rest associated with exodeviations. This abnormal position is determined by anatomic and mechanical factors such as orientation, shape and size of the orbits, size and shape of globes, volume and viscosity of reterobulbar tissue, functioning of the eye muscles as determined by their insertion, length, elasticity anatomical and structural arrangement and condition of fascias and ligaments of the orbits 5. Most current theories on the etiology of exodeviations combine the ideas of Duane and Bielchowsky and are of the concept that exodeviations are caused by combination of mechanical and innervational factors, the innervational factors consisting of variation of convergence innervation or disturbed equilibrium between convergence and divergence 8,9.
Is intermittent exotropia progressive?
Nevertheless, not all intermittent exotropia are progressive. In some cases, the deviation may remain stable for many years, and in a few cases, it may even improve. Thus the patient should be followed over time to determine whether their exotropia is stable or deteriorating.
Is intermittent exotropia a manifest exotropia?
Unlike a pure phoria, intermittent exotropia spontaneously breaks down into a manifest exotropia. Prevalence - Exodeviations are much more common in latent or intermittent form than are esodeviations. Of all the exotropia intermittent exotropia comprises about 50-90% of the cases and is usually preceded by a stage of exophoria (4,5).
