Pattern of Manifest Strabismus in Children Seen in a Tertiary Hospital in Rivers State, Nigeria

Objectives: Manifest strabismus in children is a major cause of suboptimum visual experience with attendant impact on their development. This study aims to determine the pattern of manifest strabismus among children attending the Paediatric Ophthalmology clinic of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Rivers State. Materials and method: One hundred and twenty-five (125) children, aged 6 months to 18 years with manifest strabismus were consecutively selected and examined out of one thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven (1897) children seen at the Paediatric ophthalmology clinic of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital over a period of 18 months. Severely ill children with manifest strabismus, children with phoria, pseudo-strabismus and microtropia were excluded. Results: There were sixty-nine females (55.2%) and 56 males (44.8%). The male to female ratio was 1: 1.2. The prevalence of manifest strabismus was 6.6%. Eighty-two (4.3%) children had esotropia, 38 (2.0%) had exotropia while 5 (0.27%) had vertical deviation. Infantile (congenital) esotropia 34 (27.2%) was the most common type of esotropia observed, followed by accommodative esotropia 13 (10.4%), while infantile (congenital) exotropia 19 (15.2%) was the predominant type of exotropia. Conclusion: The prevalence of Manifest strabismus among children attending the Paediatric Ophthalmology clinic is high. Esotropia was the commonest form of Manifest strabismus seen.