Patient's question:
My baby was born with strabismus in his eyes. Since I had never noticed such a condition before, I initially thought it was just a developmental issue in young children and didn’t pay much attention. By the time he was three months old, I noticed that he wouldn’t turn his eyes when looking at people and always turned his head instead. At first, the family found it strange, as if the baby’s head was like a compass. Later, we took him to several nearby hospitals, and the doctors said it was normal and would improve as he grew older. Since several doctors assured us that there was nothing wrong, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off when I watched my baby’s eyes.By the time he was six months old, the elders in the family said that if there were any problems with the child, they would have become apparent by this age. At six months, we visited the local provincial children’s health care hospital for an eye examination. The doctor diagnosed him with strabismus combined with amblyopia, stating that both eyes couldn’t alternate in focusing. The conclusion was that his left eye had 20 degrees of inward strabismus with severe amblyopia. The doctor advised us to cover his eyes with a patch for one hour each day, starting immediately, and to return for a follow-up at eight months.
When we returned at eight months, the doctor said he could already alternate his vision and no longer needed the patch. The plan was to have a vision test around 18 months and then consider surgery to correct the strabismus. Later, we consulted ophthalmologists at three other top-tier hospitals, including some of the most renowned experts in our area. They all advised us to wait until the amblyopia was corrected before addressing the strabismus, fearing we might miss the chance for the baby to naturally correct it.
After visiting several more hospitals, the consensus remained the same: we should wait until he was three years old and could cooperate with the vision test before undergoing correction. Eventually, one doctor suggested using atropine eye drops daily to dilate his pupils and see if there were any changes. Currently, there’s nothing else we can do except apply the eye drops, and we can only wait. However, now that my baby is already 18 months old, we’re still waiting.
Doctor's answer:
1, According to your child's condition, it can be diagnosed as congenital esotropia, and it is indeed necessary to have early surgery.2, There are two conditions that need to be met before the surgery: alternating gaze, and the hyperopia degree should not be too high after refraction.
3, Considering your child's condition, it is best to have the surgery around the age of 2.