In the present study, short-term and long-term surgical outcomes dependent on the amount of hyperopia in patients with infantile esotropia were analyzed.

In this study, 80 patients with infantile esotropia who underwent both medial rectus recession from 2007 to 2011 and followed up for at least 36 months were retrospectively examined. The patients were divided into two groups according to the degree of hyperopia: ≥ +3.0 D (high hyperopia [HH], n = 59 patients) and < +3.0 D (non-high hyperopia [NH], n = 21 patients). Clinical characteristics analyzed included surgical success rate and dose-response relationship at the 3-month and 3-year postoperative follow-ups.

Initial preoperative alignment (NH: 44.8 ± 10.2 PD, HH: 42.7 ± 11.6 PD, p = 0.450), surgical success rates (NH: 69.5% (41/59), HH: 71.4% (15/21), p = 0.837), under-correction rates (NH: 23.7% (14/59), HH: 9.5% (2/21), p = 0.191) and over-correction rates (NH: 6.8% (4/59), HH: 19.1% (4/21), p = 0.138) were not statistically significantly different between the NH and HH groups. A tendency towards a larger dose-response relationship was observed with HH (NH: 3.9 PD/mm, HH: 4.3 PD/mm) at the 3-month postoperative follow-up, but was not significant ( p = 0.105). At the 3-year postoperative follow-up, exodrift was in progress and the dose-response relationship was significantly higher in the HH group than NH group (NH: 3.9 PD/mm, HH: 4.9 PD/mm, p = 0.010). A difference between the groups with amblyopia was observed (NH: 8.5% (5/59), HH: 23.8% (5/21), p = 0.146), although without statistical significance.

The surgical success rate of infantile esotropia was not statistically associated with the amount of hyperopia. There was no statistical association between the dose-response relationship and amount of hyperopia at the postoperative 3-month follow-up, but a statistical association was found in the high dose-response relationship in the HH group at the postoperative 3-year follow-up. Therefore, the conventional amount of recession or muscle resection should be modified in high hyperopic (≥ +3.0 D) infantile esotropia, and long-term postoperative follow-up is necessary.