Heterotropia and Heterophoria - Strabismus- Ophthalmology Lectures

Strabismus is a condition in which the eyes do not properly align with each other when looking at an object. The eye that is focused on an object can alternate. The condition may be present occasionally or constantly. If present during a large part of childhood, it may result in amblyopia or loss of depth perception. If onset is during adulthood, it is more likely to result in double vision.

Strabismus can occur due to muscle dysfunction, farsightedness, problems in the brain, trauma or infections. Risk factors include premature birth, cerebral palsy and a family history of the condition. Types include esotropia, where the eyes are crossed ("cross eyed"); exotropia, where the eyes diverge ("lazy eyed" or "wall eyed"); and hypertropia where they are vertically misaligned. They can also be classified by whether the problem is present in all directions a person looks (comitant) or varies by direction (incomitant). Diagnosis may be made by observing the light reflecting from the person's eyes and finding that it is not centered on the pupil. Another condition that produces similar symptoms is a cranial nerve disease.

Treatment depends on the type of strabismus and the underlying cause. This may include the use of glasses and possibly surgery. Some types benefit from early surgery.[3] Strabismus occurs in about 2% of children. The term is from the Greek strabismós, meaning "to squint". Other terms for the condition include "squint" and "cast of the eye". "Wall-eye" has been used when the eyes turn away from each other.

Heterophoria is an eye condition in which the directions that the eyes are pointing at rest position, when not performing binocular fusion, are not the same as each other, or, "not straight". This condition can be esophoria, where the eyes tend to cross inward in the absence of fusion; exophoria, in which they diverge; or hyperphoria, in which one eye points up or down relative to the other. Phorias are known as 'latent squint' because the tendency of the eyes to deviate is kept latent by fusion. A person with two normal eyes has single vision (usually) because of the combined use of the sensory and motor systems. The motor system acts to point both eyes at the target of interest; any offset is detected visually (and the motor system corrects it). Heterophoria only occurs during dissociation of the left eye and right eye, when fusion of the eyes is absent. If you cover one eye (e.g. with your hand) you remove the sensory information about the eye's position in the orbit. Without this, there is no stimulus to binocular fusion, and the eye will move to a position of "rest". The difference between this position, and where it would be were the eye uncovered, is the heterophoria. The opposite of heterophoria, where the eyes are straight when relaxed and not fusing, is called orthophoria.

In contrast, fixation disparity is a very small deviation of the pointing directions of the eyes that is present while performing binocular fusion.

Heterophoria is usually asymptomatic. This is when it is said to be "compensated". When fusional reserve is used to compensate for heterophoria, it is known as compensating vergence. In severe cases, when the heterophoria is not overcome by fusional vergence, sign and symptoms appear. This is called decompensated heterophoria. Heterophoria may lead to squint, also known as strabismus.