exotropic strabismus

[ZIFF]

Just realized I never updated this topic. Many of you will have seen news stories in recent years about many eye problems that can be caused by sleep apnea in children. I came across one article (guess I didn't save the link and I can't find it now) that stated that children having one particular eye disorder should be referred to a sleep specialist, there being a strong correlation with OSA.

Strabismus is where eyes don't work together. eXotropic is where the non-dominant eye turns out (wall eyed), eSotropic is where the non-dominant eye turns in (crosseyed). I don't know if strabismus is specifically tied to OSA, but I have had both since I was a young child. When I was 4 or 5 my mother twice took me to the doctor to see about having my adenoids removed because I had trouble breathing when I slept.

In May of this year I complained to my optometrist about the vision in my left (non dominant) eye continuing to deteriorate, I believed because of how little I used it. He talked me into buying glasses with prisms in them. They bend light by 5% in each lens, 10% in total. My left eye at rest was turned out by 17% so introducing a 10% correction gave my brain only 2 options, see double or start to use both eyes while wearing those glasses. I only wore the glasses with prisms for a total of 5 days before switching back to my non prism glasses, my eyes now work together except when I am on the verge of falling asleep. I rate it as being about 90% of a cure. I can't even wear the prism glasses now, they make my eyes feel extremely uncomfortable.

The optometrist never sold this as a cure, they were glasses I would keep wearing forever to force the use of my left eye to keep it from weakening further. I have yet to contact and inform him about the change.

[DreamOn]

That's interesting, ZIFF. I have to wear eyeglasses with a very high prism correction. I probably should have had vision therapy or eye surgery as a child, as mine is pretty bad. I don't wear eyeglasses around the house anymore (only to watch TV or when driving), and I think that may actually have strengthened eye muscle coordination. My tonsils were removed when I was young, but probably due to repeated infections. Doctors don't do that so readily anymore, as it was learned that the tonsils do have a protective function.

I don't believe I had sleep apnea as a child, but it's interesting that there may be a connection between that and strabismus. I'll add that to my growing list of sleep apnea-related conditions that I'm researching! Thanks for the info.

~ DreamOn

[Julie]

Wow, I had no idea there was a correlation! At age 14 I had surgery to correct lazy eyes (they'd go sideways when I was tired) and did have tonsils and adenoids out at age 8. The list never seems to end as far as connections go (I also had mono at 25, and believe it may well have had an effect as well).

[timbalionguy]

Interesting information.

I had crossed eyes (endotropic strabimus) when I was a child, and I assume I was born that way. I had surgery to attempt to correct this at age 2, and this surgery overcorrected. So, not I have exotropic strabimus. Mine is bad enough that I do not really have anything close to stereo vision. I use both eyes independently, favoring my right eye. There is no real evidence that either eye is degrading faster then the other. No attempt has ever been suggested for further correction other than a rather complete review of the situation around age 8. The conclusion was that surgery to try and re-correct the problem was unwarranted.

The exotropism is unusual enough that when I recently started to see an ophthalmologist at a large eye clinic, the doctor brought his interns and nurses in to see my eyes.

And yes, I can see signs of sleep apnea (and metabolic disorder) going back into my early 20's. I am now 48.

[JohnBFisher]

... The exotropism is unusual enough that when I recently started to see an ophthalmologist at a large eye clinic, the doctor brought his interns and nurses in to see my eyes. ...

Agreed, very interesting information.

And that explains why when I saw a neuro-opthamologist at a very large eye clinic, everyone was interested in my situation. Though my exotopism did not develop until my 20s, he believes it is linked to my neurological issues and the fact that I have a scar on my retina at the focal point. He believes it is essentially a birth defect.

With the neurological problems I have troubles tracking objects. Due to the jerkiness that I encounter, I often experience a stroboscopic view of the world. It's quite disorienting, as you might imagine. And other odd problems related to tracking objects. Of course, all of the symptoms are indicative of problems with my cerebellum.

I've had this so long that I actually have two different fields of vision. Yup. I see two different areas at the same time. The neuro-opthamologist notes that also indicates a very early problem with my vision. So, I have never had stereoscopic vision. I would literally not be able to deal with it, if it was available.

My wife can tell if I am having a bad day by looking at my eyes. When my "lazy" eye moves points forward I have more problems than when it's pointing off toward the wall.

But I had not realized the possible connection to OSA. I would want to see more studies before I was fully convinced.