Abstract
The incidence of strabismic amblyopia is not well documented. Recent incidence values have been based upon mathematical extrapolations from amblyopia and strabismus data of the general population. We studied the effects of strabismus type, “A” and “V” patterns, variability of the deviation, and accommodative factors on the incidence of strabismic amblyopia in 687 patients with uncomplicated strabismus and no ocular or neurologic abnormalities. 215 patients (31%) had strabismic amblyopia. Esotropias had a significantly higher incidence (37%) than exotropias (28%). When only constant deviations were compared, the overall incidence of strabismic amblyopia was 44%, and there was no difference between esotropia and exotropia. Strabismic amblyopia was present in 10% of intermittent deviations and 33% of accommodative esotropias. The presence of an “A” or “V” pattern was associated with a significantly reduced incidence of strabismic amblyopia in exotropia but not esotropia.