Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Surgery for adult strabismus


The Chicago Tribune (7/29, Channick) reports that strabismus "a disease generally associated with children," is now affecting an increasing number of adults. An "imbalance of the ocular muscles, strabismus causes crossed eyes, lazy eye and double vision, conditions that affect about four percent of the population, according to the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus." In younger patients, "eye exercises, patches and surgery are often used to prevent visual impairment." In adults, however, "a long-standing medical belief that corrective measures wouldn't work...relegated" many "to years of thick prismatic glasses, which more or less bend the images into rough alignment." Now, "surgery is becoming the preferred method for correcting the problem in adults." It "involves detaching one or more of the six ocular muscles and repositioning them to allow the eyes to work in tandem, creating a unified image. (courtesy AOA)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Had surgery for "lazy eye" as a child, at 11 & 12 yrs of age. After second surgery, had double vision & crossed eyes. Second surgery did me in. Saw double since. Had surgery 2 yrs ago at 50 & was cosmetically enhanced but still saw double. However, that enhancement was short-lived. Would love to hear of new methods by which one with my history would be able to have fusion.