qa07

Question

I am 46 and have Strabismus since a child. After many years, this week I am finally able to focus both eyes on the same subject for long periods of time. I have had two operations, both ineffective.
I mention this as everyone that I have discussed this with says it is not possible. I believe at lease some cases of Strabismus can be fixed as an adult. My left eye was the weak eye. 10 years ago I could not look out of that eye for more than a few seconds! without it hurting too much to continue. Now I can see out of it for an indefinate period of time.
I mention all this in case someone would like more information about how this happened so they might help others. I have suffered, and still suffered the emotional scars from this condition.
I am director of development for a large software company in southern california.

(Norm Patriquin)

Answer:

Dear Norm,

Thank you for your question on your strabismus. I apologize for the three months delay in answering the question; we have a lot of strabismus research going on that literally absorbs me seven days a week, probably just as software development does in your life.
The most intriguing aspect of your question is that, after trying for years, you are now able to see with the weak eye for an indefinite period of time and seem to be able to focus both eyes on the same object for long periods of time. Contrasting with that is the fact that you have been operated for strabismus twice and have a weak, probably amblyopic (lazy) eye.
I will need more information (can you supply that ?) to be able to work out your case, but the information available would be compatible with the following scenario: As a child you had convergent squint (eyes pointing inward), you were operated twice in an effort to get your eyes straight and one eye is probably amblyopic, it may have been patched. The weak eye is probably still pointing inward slightly.
These patients, who are extremely frequent, usually see the center of the visual field, i.e. the object that you are looking at and an area of a few degrees around it, with one eye and the surround of the visual field with both eyes. In the States this is called the monofixation syndrome, in Europe we call it microstrabismus. If that is the case, it would not be advisable to train the weak eye up to the point that you can see with it with both eyes open. The images of the two eyes simply do not fit onto each other (the center of the image is displaced relative to its surround, in the squinting eye), and they cannot be made fit after childhood.
Please supply some more details, so we can work this out further.

(Herb Simonsz, MD, PhD)

_{Note: To contact contributors to this page, replace [AT] in the e-mail address by @.}