Symptoms and treatment of divergent strabismus in children

1 Development of children's strabismus

A strabismus is a change in the location of the visual axis relative to the fixation point. Very often this leads to a disorder of binocular vision. Such children are not able to see the surrounding objects simultaneously with two eyes. With divergent strabismus, the right or left eye deviates to the outside. There is a feeling that the eyes are looking in different directions. Only one eyeball can deflect or both.

There are congenital and acquired strabism. In the first case, the signs are noticeable in the first six months of the birth of the child. Acquired strabismus is more often found in children under 3 years old. Acquired strabism is permanent, temporary and sensory. Single-sided and intermittent strabismus is also distinguished. Depending on the degree of impairment of the function of the eye, a compensated, subcompensated and latent form of strabismus is distinguished. Strabismus is friendly and paralytic.

2 Basic etiological factors

The following causes of development of this pathology of the organ of vision are distinguished:

• hereditary predisposition;
• Cruson Syndrome;
• Down's Syndrome;
• brain tumors;
• cerebral palsy;
• hydrocephalus;
• intoxication during pregnancy;
• congenital pathology of oculomotor muscles;
• congenital anomalies of retina and optic nerve development;
• cataract;
• violation of refraction;
• infection( diphtheria, scarlet fever);
• reception of narcotics during pregnancy.

Child acquired strabismus often develops on the background of myopia( nearsightedness). This is a violation of the refraction of the eyeballs. Predisposing factors include premature birth of a child, low birth weight of the baby, severe stress, persistent visual stress, the presence of rheumatoid juvenile arthritis. In older children, divergent strabism is often formed against the backdrop of leukemia, cataracts and atrophy of the optic nerve. Paralytic form of strabismus can develop against the background of craniocerebral trauma, retinoblastoma, multiple sclerosis.

3 How to identify the pathology of

To identify divergent strabismus is not difficult. The main sign of pathology is the deviation of the eyes( one or two at a time) to the side when examining a stationary object. With strabismus, the eyeballs are mobile. In such sick children, visual acuity on one eye is lower. With an external examination, the asymmetric position of the iris and the pupil to the eye gap is revealed.

In the case of paralytic strabismus, one eyeball is not able to move normally to the side where the oculomotor muscle is affected. Additional symptoms of strabism include double vision and dizziness. Children can not accurately determine the location of the object. To compensate for impaired visual function, children often change the position of the head. This can cause the curvature of the cervical spine.

Symptoms of strabismus largely depend on the cause of its appearance. If it developed against the background of the defeat of the third pair of cranial nerves, then the children are diagnosed with mydriasis, the lowering of the eyelid, the deviation of the eyeball from the outside. The paralysis of accommodation is developing. Friendly strabismus occurs without doubling in the eyes. With it, the function of the muscles of the eyeball does not change.

4 Treatment measures

When finding divergent strabismus in children, treatment can be conservative and surgical. The prognosis for health depends on the timeliness of seeking medical help. There are the following methods of treatment of patients with childbearing:

• hardware therapy;
• optical correction;
• orthoptic treatment;
• operation.

Pleioptic treatment gives a good effect. Its goal is to increase the visual load on the mowing eye. To stimulate the mowing eyeball, a laser or a computer program can be used. This therapy is prescribed for the development of amblyopia. To date, special devices are used( Ambliocor, Ambliopanorama), which allow normalizing the vision of children.

To increase the load on the mowing eye, a flash method, magnetic therapy, electric stimulation, vacuum massage can be used. The orthoptic stage involves the restoration of binocular vision. This is achieved through the use of synoptic devices( Synoptophore).The final stage of therapy is diploptic treatment. Convergence training and gymnastics for the eyes are needed.

Any type of strabismus needs correction of visual acuity. When ametropia should wear glasses or lenses. Preliminary assessment of visual acuity. Strabismus almost never passes by itself, so treatment must be carried out necessarily. It must be continued until the child is completely cured or until the formation of eyeballs( up to 18-25 years).Treat children yourself is not recommended.

If treatment for more than a year does not produce any results, surgical intervention may be required.

Operation is possible at any age. It is recommended to carry out similar treatment in 3-5 years. During the operation, the function of the ocular muscles is increased or decreased. After the operation, gymnastics, orthopedic and diploptic therapy are performed. Thus, divergent strabismus is common among children. If in the process of treatment vision improves and the position of the eyes becomes symmetrical, then the therapy was successful.