Patient's question:
Recently, I've noticed that my child sometimes has a slight outward deviation of the eye, but it's not frequent. What could be the reason?Doctor's answer:
The symptoms described are likely intermittent strabismus. A common symptom is photophobia, where the patient often closes one eye under bright outdoor sunlight. The cause is unknown. It is estimated that when the patient looks at distant objects outdoors, there is no near object to stimulate binocular convergence, and the bright sunlight flickers the retina, disrupting fusion. As a result, the patient's latent esotropia becomes manifest. However, it is not certain that the patient closes one eye to avoid diplopia. It is also possible that the bright light affects the fusion amplitude of intermittent exotropia, causing one eye to close.