Evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of congenital esotropia

Abstract

Strabismus is a multifactorial condition with many presentations, which can sometimes confuse physicians who are not familiar with the subject. For this reason, treatment types that are often urgent may be delayed, risking the visual health of younger patients. The research objective was to describe methods of evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment for the most important forms of strabismus in childhood, such as congenital esotropia. This bibliographic review is a non-experimental, observational, and descriptive study conducted according to the PRISMA 2020 methodology, involving a search of articles published in specialized databases such as PubMed, Scielo, PMC, Springer, EMBASE, and Science Direct, as open-access databases. The keywords used were: childhood strabismus, congenital esotropia, Ciancia syndrome, management of childhood strabismus, early recognition. Through this process, 857 documents were identified, including scientific articles, systematic reviews, theses, among others, from which the most relevant were selected. All reviewed articles conclude the importance of correct evaluation from birth, without neglecting routine subsequent studies. Visual attitude and eye movements are fundamental pillars in the correct development of visual acuity and stereopsis. It is concluded that strabismus is a health problem that must be taken very seriously due to its multifactorial nature and short- or long-term side effects. The most important of all is congenital esotropia, as it represents an ophthalmological emergency.