Question
I recently noticed that my child’s eyes sometimes wander outward, but it’s not a frequent occurrence. What could this be?
Answer
This symptom is considered to be intermittent strabismus. Common symptoms include photophobia, often closing one eye when outdoors in bright sunlight. The cause is unknown; it is estimated that when patients look at distant objects outdoors, the absence of nearby objects to stimulate convergence of the eyes can lead to the retina being affected by bright sunlight, disrupting fusion, and causing the patient’s latent exotropia to become apparent. However, this is not definitive; the closure of one eye could be to avoid double vision. It’s also possible that the bright light affects the fusion amplitude of intermittent exotropia patients, leading to one eye being closed.