Using evidence-based psychological approaches to accommodation anomalies.

INTRODUCTION: Accommodation anomalies are frequently caused or exacerbated by psychological problems such as anxiety. Patients share many features with those with other anxiety based somatic symptoms such as stomach-ache, palpitations and headaches. They can be difficult to treat, and the ophthalmic literature rarely goes beyond diagnosis and ocular treatment. This study reports characteristics and outcomes of a short case series of patients with accommodation spasms and weaknesses assessed objectively, and outlines a psychological approach to treatment. METHODS: 23 patients (13 severe accommodative weakness or "paralysis," 10 accommodative spasm) aged between 8-30 years, were referred to our laboratory after diagnosis by their referring clinician and exclusion of pathology or drug-related causes. Their accommodation and convergence were assessed objectively with a laboratory photorefractive method, as well as by conventional orthoptic testing and dynamic retinoscopy. All interactions with the patients used an evidence-based psychological approach, to give them insight into how stress and anxiety can cause or exacerbate eye symptoms and help them to break a vicious cycle of anxiety and risk of deterioration. RESULTS: 83% were female and 57% had previously diagnosed anxiety or dyslexia (with many more acknowledging being "worriers"). Inconsistency of responses was the rule and all showed normal responses at some time during their visit. Responses were poorly related to the visual stimuli presented and objective responses often differed from subjective. Dissociation between convergence and accommodation was more common, compared to our large, previously reported, control groups. No participant had true paralysis of accommodation. Responses often improved dramatically within one session after discussion and explanation of the strong relationship between anxiety and accommodative anomalies. None have returned for further advice or treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our approach explicitly addresses psychological factors in causing, or worsening, accommodation (and co-existing convergence) anomalies. Many of these patients do not realize that a certain amount of blur is normal in everyday life. Ocular symptoms are often a sign of anxiety, not the primary problem. By recognizing this, patients can be helped to address the triggering issues and symptoms often subside or resolve spontaneously. Well-meaning professionals, offering only ocular treatments, can deflect attention away from the real cause and can unwittingly be making things worse.

Availability of data for cost-effectiveness comparison of child vision and hearing screening programmes.

OBJECTIVE: For cost-effectiveness comparison of child vision and hearing screening programmes, methods and data should be available. We assessed the current state of data collection and its availability in Europe. METHODS: The EUSCREEN Questionnaire, conducted in 2017-2018, assessed paediatric vision and hearing screening programmes in 45 countries in Europe. For the current study, its items on data collection, monitoring and evaluation, and six of eleven items essential for cost-effectiveness analysis: prevalence, sensitivity, specificity, coverage, attendance and loss to follow-up, were reappraised with an additional questionnaire. RESULTS: The practice of data collection in vision screening was reported in 36% (N = 42) of countries and in hearing screening in 81% (N = 43); collected data were published in 12% and 35%, respectively. Procedures for quality assurance in vision screening were reported in 19% and in hearing screening in 26%, research of screening effectiveness in 43% and 47%, whereas cost-effectiveness analysis was performed in 12% for both. Data on prevalence of amblyopia were reported in 40% and of hearing loss in 77%, on sensitivity of screening tests in 17% and 14%, on their specificity in 19% and 21%, on coverage of screening in 40% and 84%, on attendance in 21% and 37%, and on loss to follow-up in 12% and 40%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Data collection is insufficient in hearing screening and even more so in vision screening: data essential for cost-effectiveness comparison could not be reported from most countries. When collection takes place, this is mostly at a local level for quality assurance or accountability, and data are often not accessible. The resulting inability to compare cost-effectiveness among screening programmes perpetuates their diversity and inefficiency.

When Does Blur Matter? A Narrative Review and Commentary.

Blur is the subjective awareness that the edges of a high contrast image are indistinct. The concept of blur is fundamental to the understanding of vision, accommodation, refractive error, concomitant strabismus, and asthenopia. It is easy for clinicians to believe that blur always needs to be avoided or resolved, or that everyone responds to blur similarly. This narrative review outlines the literature on blur and the accommodation to resolve it, and relates it to current clinical practice. Laboratory studies have traditionally been highly controlled, using expert observers, but more recent research using naïve participants suggests that variability and tolerance of blur are common and more widespread than often thought, especially in children and clinical groups. Objective and subjective responses can differ widely, and it cannot be assumed that because we expect accommodation to have occurred, that it always has. A deeper understanding of the role of blur and objective accommodation in vision, refractive error and strabismus may help us understand the variability that exists in clinical practice. We may use blur to help investigation and treatment but also be relaxed about what is normal. Many patients are led to believe that they should always achieve constant clear vision, when this is unrealistic. Although pathological blur must be identified and treated, normal everyday blur may become medicalized into "a problem" by well-meaning professionals.

A Comprehensive Overview of Vision Screening Programmes across 46 Countries.

Purpose: To describe and compare vision screening programmes and identify variance in number and type of tests used, timing of screening, personnel involved, monitoring and funding to be used as data for optimising, disinvesting or implementing future screening programmes. Methods: A questionnaire consisting of nine domains: demography & epidemiology, administration & general background, existing screening, coverage & attendance, tests, follow-up & diagnosis, treatment, cost & benefit and adverse effects was completed by Country Representatives (CRs) recruited from 47 countries. Results: The questionnaire was sufficiently completed for 46 Countries: 42 European countries, China, India, Malawi and Rwanda. Variation of provision was found in; age of screening (0-17 years), tests included (23), types of visual acuity (VA) test used (35 different optotypes), personnel (13), number of screens per child (median 5, range 1-32), and times VA tested (median 3, range 1-30). Infant screening is offered in all countries, whereas childhood vision screening is offered at least once in all countries, but not all regions of each country. All 46 countries provide vision screening between the ages of 3-7 years. Data on screening outcomes for quality assurance was not available from most countries; complete evaluation data was available in 2% of countries, partial data from 43%. Conclusion: Vision screening is highly variable. Some form of VA testing is being undertaken during childhood. Data collection and sharing should be improved to facilitate comparison and to be able to optimise vision screening programmes between regions and countries.

The cost-effectiveness of different visual acuity screening strategies in three European countries: A microsimulation study.

Childhood vision screening programmes in Europe differ by age, frequency and location at which the child is screened, and by the professional who performs the test. The aim of this study is to compare the cost-effectiveness for three countries with different health care structures. We developed a microsimulation model of amblyopia. The natural history parameters were calibrated to a Dutch observational study. Sensitivity, specificity, attendance, lost to follow-up and costs in the three countries were based on the EUSCREEN Survey. Quality adjusted life-years (QALYs) were calculated using assumed utility loss for unilateral persistent amblyopia (1%) and bilateral visual impairment (8%). We calculated the cost-effectiveness of screening (with 3.5% annual discount) by visual acuity measurement at age 5 years or 4 and 5 years in the Netherlands by nurses in child healthcare centres, in England and Wales by orthoptists in schools and in Romania by urban kindergarten nurses. We compared screening at various ages and with various frequencies. Assuming an amblyopia prevalence of 36 per 1,000 children, the model predicted that 7.2 cases of persistent amblyopia were prevented in the Netherlands, 6.6 in England and Wales and 4.5 in Romania. The cost-effectiveness was €24,159, €19,981 and €23,589, per QALY gained respectively, compared with no screening. Costs/QALY was influenced most by assumed utility loss of unilateral persistent amblyopia. For all three countries, screening at age 5, or age 4 and 5 years were optimal. Despite differences in health care structure, vision screening by visual acuity measurement seemed cost-effective in all three countries.

Scope and costs of autorefraction and photoscreening for childhood amblyopia-a systematic narrative review in relation to the EUSCREEN project data.

BACKGROUND: Amblyopia screening can target reduced visual acuity (VA), its refractive risk factors, or both. VA testing is imprecise under 4 years of age, so automated risk-factor photoscreening appears an attractive option. This review considers photoscreening used in community services, focusing on costs, cost-effectiveness and scope of use, compared with EUSCREEN project Country Reports describing how photo- and automated screening is used internationally. METHODS: A systematic narrative review was carried out of all English language photoscreening literature to September 10th 2018, using publicly available search terms. Where costs were considered, a CASP economic evaluation checklist was used to assess data quality. RESULTS: Of 370 abstracts reviewed, 55 reported large-scale community photoscreening projects. Five addressed cost-effectiveness specifically, without original data. Photoscreening was a stand-alone, single, test event in 71% of projects. In contrast, 25 of 45 EUSCREEN Country Reports showed that if adopted, photoscreening often supplements other tests in established programmes and is rarely used as a stand-alone test. Reported costs varied widely and evidence of cost-effectiveness was sparse in the literature, or in international practice. Only eight (13%) papers compared the diagnostic accuracy or cost-effectiveness of photoscreening and VA testing, and when they did, cost-effectiveness of photoscreening compared unfavourably. DISCUSSION: Evidence that photoscreening reduces amblyopia or strabismus prevalence or improves overall outcomes is weak, as is evidence of cost-effectiveness, compared to later VA screening. Currently, the most cost-effective option seems to be a later, expert VA screening with the opportunity for a re-test before referral.

Differences between naïve and expert observers' vergence and accommodative responses to a range of targets.

PURPOSE: Vergence and accommodation studies often use adult participants with experience of vision science. Reports of infant and clinical responses are generally more variable and of lower gain, with the implication that differences lie in immaturity or sub-optimal clinical characteristics but expert/naïve differences are rarely considered or quantified. METHODS: Sixteen undergraduates, naïve to vision science, were individually matched by age, visual acuity, refractive error, heterophoria, stereoacuity and near point of accommodation to second- and third-year orthoptics and optometry undergraduates ('experts'). Accommodation and vergence responses were assessed to targets moving between 33 cm, 50 cm, 1 m and 2 m using a haploscopic device incorporating a PlusoptiX SO4 autorefractor. Disparity, blur and looming cues were separately available or minimised in all combinations. Instruction set was minimal. RESULTS: In all cases, vergence and accommodation response slopes (gain) were steeper and closer to 1.0 in the expert group (p = 0.001), with the largest expert/naïve differences for both vergence and accommodation being for near targets (p = 0.012). For vergence, the differences between expert and naïve response slopes increased with increasingly open-loop targets (linear trend p = 0.025). Although we predicted that proximal cues would drive additional response in the experts, the proximity-only cue was the only condition that showed no statistical effect of experience. CONCLUSIONS: Expert observers provide more accurate responses to near target demand than closely matched naïve observers. We suggest that attention, practice, voluntary and proprioceptive effects may enhance responses in experienced participants when compared to a more typical general population. Differences between adult reports and the developmental and clinical literature may partially reflect expert/naïve effects, as well as developmental change. If developmental and clinical studies are to be compared to adult normative data, uninstructed naïve adult data should be used.

Plusoptix photoscreener use for paediatric vision screening in Flanders and Iran.

PURPOSE: Photoscreening assesses risk factors for amblyopia, as an alternative to measurement of visual acuity (VA) to detect amblyopia, on the premise that its early correction could prevent development of amblyopia. We studied implementations of Plusoptix photoscreening in existing population-based screening in Flanders and Iran. METHODS: In Flanders, VA is measured at age 3, 4 and 6, photoscreening was added to existing screening at age 1 and 2.5 years in 2013. In Iran, VA is measured at ages 3-6 years, photoscreening was added at ages 3-6 years between 2011 and 2016. Plusoptix use was analysed in the literature for detection of risk factors for amblyopia and amblyopia itself, for ages 0-3 and for 4-6. A questionnaire, containing seven domains: existing vision screening, addition of photoscreening, implementation in screening program, training, attendance, diagnosis and treatment, and costs was distributed. In Iran, screening procedures were observed on site. RESULTS: Implementation of Plusoptix photoscreening was mainly analysed from questionnaires and interviews, its effectiveness from literature data. In Flanders, of 56 759 children photoscreened at age one (81% of children born in 2013), 9.2% had been referred, 13% of these were treated, mostly with glasses, resulting in an increase of 4-year-old children wearing glasses from 4.7% to 6.4%. In Iran, 90% of children aged 3-6 years participated in vision screening in 2016, but only those who failed the vision test were subjected to photoscreening. CONCLUSIONS: In Flanders, the use of Plusoptix photoscreening at ages 1 and 2.5 resulted in an increase of children wearing glasses, but it remains unknown how many cases of amblyopia have been prevented. Studies are needed to determine the relation between size and sort of refractive error and strabismus, and the increased chance to develop amblyopia.

Receding and disparity cues aid relaxation of accommodation.

PURPOSE: Accommodation can mask hyperopia and reduce the accuracy of non-cycloplegic refraction. It is, therefore, important to minimize accommodation to obtain a measure of hyperopia as accurate as possible. To characterize the parameters required to measure the maximally hyperopic error using photorefraction, we used different target types and distances to determine which target was most likely to maximally relax accommodation and thus more accurately detect hyperopia in an individual. METHODS: A PlusoptiX SO4 infra-red photorefractor was mounted in a remote haploscope which presented the targets. All participants were tested with targets at four fixation distances between 0.3 and 2 m containing all combinations of blur, disparity, and proximity/looming cues. Thirty-eight infants (6 to 44 weeks) were studied longitudinally, and 104 children [4 to 15 years (mean 6.4)] and 85 adults, with a range of refractive errors and binocular vision status, were tested once. Cycloplegic refraction data were available for a sub-set of 59 participants spread across the age range. RESULTS: The maximally hyperopic refraction (MHR) found at any time in the session was most frequently found when fixating the most distant targets and those containing disparity and dynamic proximity/looming cues. Presence or absence of blur was less significant, and targets in which only single cues to depth were present were also less likely to produce MHR. MHR correlated closely with cycloplegic refraction (r = 0.93, mean difference 0.07 D, p = n.s., 95% confidence interval +/-<0.25 D) after correction by a calibration factor. CONCLUSIONS: Maximum relaxation of accommodation occurred for binocular targets receding into the distance. Proximal and disparity cues aid relaxation of accommodation to a greater extent than blur, and thus non-cycloplegic refraction targets should incorporate these cues. This is especially important in screening contexts with a brief opportunity to test for significant hyperopia. MHR in our laboratory was found to be a reliable estimation of cycloplegic refraction.

The use of cues to convergence and accommodation in naïve, uninstructed participants.

A remote haploscopic video refractor was used to assess vergence and accommodation responses in a group of 32 emmetropic, orthophoric, symptom free, young adults naïve to vision experiments in a minimally instructed setting. Picture targets were presented at four positions between 2 m and 33 cm. Blur, disparity and looming cues were presented in combination or separately to asses their contributions to the total near response in a within-subjects design. Response gain for both vergence and accommodation reduced markedly whenever disparity was excluded, with much smaller effects when blur and proximity were excluded. Despite the clinical homogeneity of the participant group there were also some individual differences.

What Do We Expect New Graduate Orthoptists to Do?

AIMS: To validate the content of an updated orthoptic curriculum for the British & Irish Orthoptic Society (BIOS), BIOS members were surveyed about their views on what an orthoptist should be able to do soon after entering the profession. METHODS: An online survey of all practicing members of BIOS was carried out. In 35 questions across 5 domains (professional behaviour, foundation knowledge and theory, investigation, management and research and literature skills) covering the range of orthoptic practice, orthoptists were asked about the breadth and depth of knowledge required. Results were analysed by the respondents' working environment, experience, geographical region and teaching involvement. RESULTS: 325 orthoptists (27% of the membership) provided useable data, and 265 provided a full dataset. Orthoptists are frequently required to exercise considerable autonomy and responsibility for patient care from very early in their careers across many domains, often in the least-supervised environments. There was broad agreement across most core topics but wider variation in opinion in more peripheral domains. More experienced orthoptists value the wider medical aspects of orthoptic practice more highly. CONCLUSIONS: The survey confirmed that there is generally a good match between current undergraduate teaching and clinicians' expectations of newly graduated orthoptists. It is clear that training must prepare graduates for a high level of professional autonomy from the earliest stages of their careers. There may be a place for targeting CPD provision for professionals at different stages in their careers.

Asymmetrical accommodation in hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To investigate the presence of asymmetrical accommodation in hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia. METHODS: Accommodation in each eye and binocular vergence were measured simultaneously using a PlusoptiX SO4 photorefractor in 26 children aged 4-8 years with hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia and 13 controls (group age-matched) while they viewed a detailed target moving in depth. RESULTS: Without spectacles, only 5 (19%) anisometropes demonstrated symmetrical accommodation (within the 95% CI of the mean gain of the sound eye of the anisometropic group), whereas 21 (81%) demonstrated asymmetrical accommodation. Of those, 15 (58%) showed aniso-accommodation and 6 (23%) demonstrated 'anti-accommodation' (greater accommodation for distance than for near). In those with anti-accommodation, the response gain in the sound eye was (0.93±0.20) while that of the amblyopic eye showed a negative accommodation gain of (-0.44±0.23). Anti-accommodation resolved with spectacles. Vergence gains were typical in those with symmetrical and asymmetrical accommodation. CONCLUSION: The majority of hyperopic anisometropic amblyopes demonstrated non-consensual asymmetrical accommodation. Approximately one in four demonstrated anti-accommodation.

2016 International Orthoptic Congress Burian Lecture: Folklore or Evidence?

The theme of the 2016 Burian Lecture is how our understanding of strabismus has been changed by the research carried out in our laboratory in Reading over the years. Accommodation and convergence are fundamental to orthoptics, but actual responses have often been very different compared to what we had expected. This paper outlines how our laboratory's understanding of common issues such as normal development of accommodation and convergence, their linkage, intermittent strabismus, anisometropia, orthoptic exercises, and risk factors for strabismus have changed. A new model of thinking about convergence and accommodation may help us to better understand and predict responses in our patients.

Convergence and Accommodation Development Is Preprogrammed in Premature Infants.

PURPOSE: This study investigated whether vergence and accommodation development in preterm infants is preprogrammed or is driven by experience. METHODS: Thirty-two healthy infants, born at mean 34 weeks gestation (range, 31.2-36 weeks), were compared with 45 healthy full-term infants (mean 40.0 weeks) over a 6-month period, starting at 4 to 6 weeks postnatally. Simultaneous accommodation and convergence to a detailed target were measured using a Plusoptix PowerRefII infrared photorefractor as a target moved between 0.33 and 2 m. Stimulus/response gains and responses at 0.33 and 2 m were compared by both corrected (gestational) age and chronological (postnatal) age. RESULTS: When compared by their corrected age, preterm and full-term infants showed few significant differences in vergence and accommodation responses after 6 to 7 weeks of age. However, when compared by chronological age, preterm infants' responses were more variable, with significantly reduced vergence gains, reduced vergence response at 0.33 m, reduced accommodation gain, and increased accommodation at 2 m compared to full-term infants between 8 and 13 weeks after birth. CONCLUSIONS: When matched by corrected age, vergence and accommodation in preterm infants show few differences from full-term infants' responses. Maturation appears preprogrammed and is not advanced by visual experience. Longer periods of immature visual responses might leave preterm infants more at risk of development of oculomotor deficits such as strabismus.

Can misalignments in typical infants be used as a model for infantile esotropia?

PURPOSE: To investigate the nature of early ocular misalignments in human infants to determine whether they can provide insight into the etiology of esotropia and, in particular, to examine the correlates of misalignments. METHODS: A remote haploscopic photorefraction system was used to measure accommodation and vergence in 146 infants between 0 and 12 months of age. Infants underwent photorefraction immediately after watching a target moving between two of five viewing distances (25, 33, 50, 100, and 200 cm). In some instances, infants were tested in two conditions: both eyes open and one eye occluded. The resultant data were screened for instances of large misalignments. Data were assessed to determine whether accommodative, retinal disparity, or other cues were associated with the occurrence of misalignments. RESULTS: The results showed that there was no correlation between accommodative behavior and misalignments. Infants were more likely to show misalignments when retinal disparity cues were removed through occlusion. They were also more likely to show misalignments immediately after the target moved from a near to a far position in comparison to far-to-near target movement. DISCUSSION: The data suggest that the prevalence of misalignments in infants of 2 to 3 months of age is decreased by the addition of retinal disparity cues to the stimulus. In addition, target movement away from the infant increases the prevalence of misalignments. These data are compatible with the notion that misalignment are caused by poor sensitivity to targets moving away from the infant and support the theory that some forms of strabismus could be related to failure in a system that is sensitive to the direction of motion.

Disparity-driven vs blur-driven models of accommodation and convergence in binocular vision and intermittent strabismus.

PURPOSE: To propose an alternative and practical model to conceptualize clinical patterns of concomitant intermittent strabismus, heterophoria, and convergence and accommodation anomalies. METHODS: Despite identical ratios, there can be a disparity- or blur-biased "style" in three hypothetical scenarios: normal; high ratio of accommodative convergence to accommodation (AC/A) and low ratio of convergence accommodation to convergence (CA/C); low AC/A and high CA/C. We calculated disparity bias indices (DBI) to reflect these biases and provide early objective data from small illustrative clinical groups that fit these styles. RESULTS: Normal adults (n = 56) and children (n = 24) showed disparity bias (adult DBI 0.43 [95% CI, 0.50-0.36], child DBI 0.20 [95% CI, 0.31-0.07]; P = 0.001). Accommodative esotropia (n = 3) showed less disparity-bias (DBI 0.03). In the high AC/A-low CA/C scenario, early presbyopia (n = 22) showed mean DBI of 0.17 (95% CI, 0.28-0.06), compared to DBI of -0.31 in convergence excess esotropia (n=8). In the low AC/A-high CA/C scenario near exotropia (n = 17) showed mean DBI of 0.27. DBI ranged between 1.25 and -1.67. CONCLUSIONS: Establishing disparity or blur bias adds to AC/A and CA/C ratios to explain clinical patterns. Excessive bias or inflexibility in near-cue use increases risk of clinical problems.

Screening for convergence insufficiency using the CISS is not indicated in young adults.

AIM: This paper presents Convergence Insufficiency Symptom Survey (CISS) and orthoptic findings in a sample of typical young adults who considered themselves to have normal eyesight apart from weak spectacles. METHODS: The CISS questionnaire was administered, followed by a full orthoptic evaluation, to 167 university undergraduate and postgraduate students during the recruitment phase of another study. The primary criterion for recruitment to this study was that participants 'felt they had normal eyesight'. A CISS score of ≥21 was used to define 'significant' symptoms, and convergence insufficiency (CI) was defined as convergence ≥8 cm from the nose with a fusion range <15Δ base-out with small or no exophoria. RESULTS: The group mean CISS score was 15.4. In all, 17 (10%) of the participants were diagnosed with CI, but 11 (65%) of these did not have significant symptoms. 41 (25%) participants returned a 'high' CISS score of ≥21 but only 6 (15%) of these had genuine CI. Sensitivity of the CISS to detect CI in this asymptomatic sample was 38%; specificity 77%; positive predictive value 15%; and negative predictive value 92%. The area under a receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.596 (95% CI 0.46 to 0.73). CONCLUSIONS: 'Visual symptoms' are common in young adults, but often not related to any clinical defect, while true CI may be asymptomatic. This study suggests that screening for CI is not indicated.

Change in convergence and accommodation after two weeks of eye exercises in typical young adults.

BACKGROUND: Although eye exercises appear to help heterophoria, convergence insufficiency, and intermittent strabismus, results can be confounded by placebo, practice, and encouragement effects. This study assessed objective changes in vergence and accommodation responses in naive young adults after a 2-week period of eye exercises under controlled conditions to determine the extent to which treatment effects occur over other factors. METHODS: Asymptomatic young adults were randomly assigned to one of two no-treatment (control) groups or to one of six eye exercise groups: accommodation, vergence, both, convergence in excess of accommodation, accommodation in excess of convergence, and placebo. Subjects were tested and retested under identical conditions, except for the second control group, who were additionally encouraged. Objective accommodation and vergence were assessed to a range of targets moving in depth containing combinations of blur, disparity, and proximity/looming cues. RESULTS: A total of 156 subjects were included. Response gain improved more for less naturalistic targets where more improvement was possible. Convergence exercises improved vergence for near across all targets (P = 0.035). Mean accommodation changed similarly but nonsignificantly. No other treatment group differed significantly from the nonencouraged control group, whereas encouraging effort produced significantly increased vergence (P = 0.004) and accommodation (P = 0.005) gains in the second control group. CONCLUSIONS: True treatment effects were small, significantly better only after vergence exercises to a nonaccommodative target, and rarely related to the response they were designed to improve. Exercising accommodation without convergence made no difference to accommodation to cues containing detail. Additional effort improved objective responses the most.

Accommodation and vergence response gains to different near cues characterize specific esotropias.

AIM: To describe preliminary findings of how the profile of the use of blur, disparity, and proximal cues varies between non-strabismic groups and those with different types of esotropia. DESIGN: This was a case control study. METHODOLOGY: A remote haploscopic photorefractor measured simultaneous convergence and accommodation to a range of targets containing all combinations of binocular disparity, blur, and proximal (looming) cues. Thirteen constant esotropes, 16 fully accommodative esotropes, and 8 convergence excess esotropes were compared with age- and refractive error-matched controls and 27 young adult emmetropic controls. All wore full refractive correction if not emmetropic. Response AC/A and CA/C ratios were also assessed. RESULTS: Cue use differed between the groups. Even esotropes with constant suppression and no binocular vision (BV) responded to disparity in cues. The constant esotropes with weak BV showed trends for more stable responses and better vergence and accommodation than those without any BV. The accommodative esotropes made less use of disparity cues to drive accommodation (p = 0.04) and more use of blur to drive vergence (p = 0.008) than controls. All esotropic groups failed to show the strong bias for better responses to disparity cues found in the controls, with convergence excess esotropes favoring blur cues. AC/A and CA/C ratios existed in an inverse relationship in the different groups. Accommodative lag of > 1.0 D at 33 cm was common (46%) in the pooled esotropia groups compared with 11% in typical children (p = 0.05). CONCLUSION: Esotropic children use near cues differently from matched non-esotropic children in ways characteristic to their deviations. Relatively higher weighting for blur cues was found in accommodative esotropia compared to matched controls.

Developmental changes in the balance of disparity, blur, and looming/proximity cues to drive ocular alignment and focus.

Accurate coordination of accommodation and convergence is necessary to view near objects and develop fine motor coordination. We used a remote haploscopic videorefraction paradigm to measure longitudinal changes in simultaneous ocular accommodation and vergence to targets at different depths, and to all combinations of blur, binocular disparity, and change-in-size ('proximity') cues. Infants were followed longitudinally and compared with older children and young adults, with the prediction that sensitivity to different cues would change during development. Mean infant responses to the most naturalistic condition were similar to those of adults from 6-7 weeks (accommodation) and 8-9 weeks (vergence). Proximity cues influenced responses most in infants of less than 14 weeks of age, but sensitivity declined thereafter. Between 12 and 28 weeks of age infants were equally responsive to all three cues, while in older children and adults manipulation of disparity resulted in the greatest changes in response. Despite rapid development of visual acuity (thus increasing availability of blur cues), responses to blur were stable throughout development. Our results suggest that, during much of infancy, vergence and accommodation responses are not dependent on the development of specific depth cues, but make use of any cues available to drive appropriate changes in response.