Study finds association between intermittent exotropia, myopia progression

Am J Ophthalmol. 2010;149(3):503-507.

A possible association between intermittent exotropia and myopia progression in children has been found, according to a study.

The retrospective, population-based observational study followed 184 children diagnosed with intermittent exotropia over a 20-year period. Rates of myopia development were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

According to the study, of the 184 patients with intermittent exotropia, 135 patients had two or more refractive error measurements separated by at least 1 year. Results showed that the final refractive error, at a mean 10.1 years of follow-up, of the 135 children included myopia in 95 patients (70%), hyperopia in 34 patients (25%) and plano in six patients (4.4%) at a mean age of 15.9 years, the authors said.

"The Kaplan-Meier rate of developing myopia in this population was 7.4% by 5 years of age, 46.5% by 10 years, and 91.1% by 20 years," the authors said. "The findings from this population-based study ... showed a significant trend toward myopia over time."

Furthermore, surgical correction did not appear to have an impact on myopic progression.

Of the 135 children, 54 children underwent surgical correction for intermittent exotropia, and no statistically significant difference in the rate of myopia progression between the surgical group and the observation group was found, the authors said.

However, due to the study's retrospective data, which include uneven follow-up and inexact inclusion criteria, further study is warranted to clarify the relationship between myopia, accommodation and intermittent exotropia, the authors said.

Follow OSNSuperSite.com on Twitter.