Treating Pediatric Strabismus

[Anonymous]

Hello. Any updates from the mom who chose the botox option for her child's strabismus? We've seen 2 pediatric opth., both with excellent reputations, and one is very pro surgery and other only suggests botox for our daughter. She is almost 4 and has mild to moderate angle non-accomodative esotropia. We have a third opinion scheduled with Dr. Repka in a couple of weeks.

I would love to hear from the mom who chose the less invasive route as that is how I am leaning.

Thanks so much.

[Anonymous]

That was me. Dr. Vicente did the Botox last November. Procedure was very quick, as was the recovery, though we did see some eyelid droop for about 2 weeks after the procedure. This is not uncommon and was discussed with us, but it was a bit annoying for our daughter. Overall it seems to have been fairly sucessful--her eyes continue to be pretty straight.

The main advantage I saw to trying Botox is that it is minimally invasive and, unlike surgery, leaves no scar tissue. That, I understand, can be a real issue if the surgery has to be redone.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for responding. It's good to hear from someone who's experienced this! I think you mentioned your dd is close to my daughter's age. When asked about possible double vision for a while our doc said at this age they'll just close one eye and keep running if they have this issue. We, too, are aware of the possible eyelid droop. I'm glad to know your dd's only lasted a couple of weeks.

Any other annoying/problematic stuff? I'm mostly wondering about subsequent exo and if that will throw her off balance. At almost 4 I'm sure she would really notice it!

Thank you so very much for responding and I"m really excited for you that it looks like just one injection is working for you. Are you thinking about a second or just going to wait and see how things go?

[Anonymous]

Another vote for Dr. Guyton at Wilmer. My DD and my neice see him. he is absolutely wonderful. My daughter was misdiagnosed by 2 other optho's with strabismus. Guyton saw her and immediately explained it was pseudo due to extra skin on the bridge of her nose. After his exam he said nothing wrong now, but around age 8 she would be in need of glasses (as I was and DH was).

[Anonymous]

Another successful case of Botox with Dr. Vicente. My son had it done at 11 months old. At our 3 month post-op check in, we got an A+ report and continue to see the initial positive results still in place (we are now almost 6 months post op)

[Anonymous]

That is wonderful news!

[Anonymous]

We're two weeks out from the botox treatment and doc says things are going as hoped. One question for anyone who's BTDT - if your child had esotropia (crossed eyes) did the eye or eyes drift fairly widely in the opposing direction (exotropic) and if so, how long before they eye/eyes came back to center? It's fairly disconcerting to see this. We were told to expect it and the doc says it is a good sign but I'm wondering if anyone has experience with this. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Yes. BTDT and also got the wall-eyed look for a while. It was less obvious after a few weeks and then gradually disappeared. Sorry I can't be more specific but it faded so gradually that we stopped noticing after a while.

[Anonymous]

OK, we are now 4 weeks out and the swing has diminished greatly and her eyes are pretty much straight and tracking perfectly and the doc today said she has some depth perception. Amazing. I'm posting this mostly for any others who may search for results of botox and strabismus. It was hard for me to find many BTDTs and this forum has been helpful!

[Anonymous]

Checking back in - my 4 year old is now more than 3 mos. post bilateral botox injections for strabismus (esotropia) and her eyes are straight. Procedure is considered successful at this point. So any others moms or dads looking for success rates on this treatment protocol can find at least one more person who had success. Only one bilateral injection was required.