The effects of full correction of hypermetropia on emmetropization in children with refractive accommodative esotropia

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the influence of full correction of hypermetropia on emmetropization in refractive accommodative esotropic children. Methods A retrospective study in 161 patients (322 eyes) was performed from the year of 1990 to 1997 in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-sen University,China.The 66 patients (132 eyes) with refractive accommodative esotropia were prescribed full optical correction of hyperopia,while the 95 hypermetropic patients (190 eyes) without strabismus were prescribed undercorrection of hyperopia.Repeated measurement date analysis was applied to make a comparison of the longitudinal refractive changes between the two groups in the 3rd year,the 5th year,the 7th year and the 9th year. Results The mean refractive errors of the full correction group were (+5.45±2.22)D in the 3rd year,(+5.64±1.99)D in the 5th year,(+5.48±2.05)D in the 7th year and (+5.30±1.93)D in the 9th year respectively.The mean refractive errors of the under correction group were (+3.98±2.14)D in the 3rd year,(+4.26±2.48)D in the 5th year,(+3.97±2.43)D in the 7th year and (+3.44±2.48)D in the 9th year.From the 3rd year to the 5th year,the hyperopic refractive errors was increased by +0.19D in the full correction group,and the hyperopic refractive errors was increased by +0.28D in the under correction group (P ＜0.05); from the 5th year to the 7th year,the hyperopic refractive errors was decreased by +0.16D in the full correction group,and the hyperopic refractive errors was decreased by +0.29D in the under correction group (P ＜0.05); from the 7th year to the 9th year,the hyperopic refractive errors was decreased by +0.18D in the full correction group,and the hyperopic refractive errors was decreased by +0.53D in the under correction group (P ＜0.05).In comparison,there were a reduction of +0.15D in the full correction group from the 3rd year to the 9th year,and a reduction of +0.54D in the under correction group from the 3rd year to the 9th year. Conclusions The full correction of hypermetropia in accommodative esotropic children impedes their emmetropization from the age of 3 years to 9 years. Key words: Accommodative esotropia; Optical correction; Hyperopic refractive errors; Emmetropization