Summary

• Misalignment of the visual axes of the eyes; may be latent or manifest and, if manifest, it may be constant or intermittent.
• Common cause of diplopia (double vision) and visual confusion (seeing different objects in the same place) in adults.
• Important cause for amblyopia (decreased vision in an anatomically normal eye caused by suppression) in children.
• May be aesthetically obvious to the patient and others, resulting in psychosocial problems.
• Evaluation involves a detailed medical history, including a complete ocular history, followed by thorough neurological and ophthalmic examinations.
• Treatment is directed at restoring and maintaining ocular alignment, eliminating diplopia or visual confusion, enabling binocular vision, and restoring normal appearance.
• If strabismus is secondary to an underlying cause (e.g., sixth cranial nerve palsy causing esotropia), treatment of this condition is necessary.