The success rate appears to be unaffected by initial ocular alignment, suggesting that deliberate initial overcorrection may be unnecessary. Future studies are warranted to evaluate the long-term stability of this alignment.
Purpose. To determine the predictive factors that affect short term and long term postoperative drift in intermittent exotropia after bilateral lateral rectus recession and to evaluate its effect on surgical outcome. Methods. Retrospective review of 203 patients with diagnosis of intermittent exotropia, who had surgical corrections with more than 3 years of followup. Different preoperative parameters were obtained and evaluated using Pearson's correlation analysis. Results. The proportion of exodrift increased from 62% at 6 weeks to 84% at 3 years postoperatively. The postoperative drift was 4.3 ± 8.1 PD at 6 weeks, 5.8 ± 8.4 PD at 6 months, 7.2 ± 8.3 PD at 1 year, 7.4 ± 8.4 PD at 2 years, and 7.7 ± 8.5 PD at 3 years. Preoperative deviation and initial overcorrection were significant factors affecting the postoperative drift at 3 years (r = 0.177, P = 0.011, r = −0.349, and P < 0.001, resp.). Conclusions. Postoperative exodrift along three years occurs in a majority of patients after bilateral lateral rectus recession for intermittent exotropia. The long term surgical success is significantly affected by this postoperative exodrift. A larger preoperative deviation and a larger initial overcorrection are associated with a larger early and late postoperative exodrift.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.