Testing depth of suppression in childhood intermittent exotropia

Abstract

A test of suppression was developed to provide a standardized approach to detecting and grading density of suppression in children with intermittent exotropia when manifestly exotropic. This new Office Suppression Test is a three-step procedure to grade suppression on a 4-point scale (from 0 for "negligible suppression" to 3 for "dense suppression"). The test was performed in 57 children 3-13 years of age with intermittent exotropia (distance angle of 16^Δ-35^Δ, with spontaneous tropia) during enrollment in a randomized trial. Of the 57 children, 51 could complete testing: 28 (55%) had dense suppression, 12 (24%) had moderate suppression, 5 (10%) had mild suppression, and 6 (12%) had negligible suppression. In a subgroup of 20 untreated children, suppression was evaluated again at 8 weeks. There was moderate agreement between suppression scores at baseline and at 8 weeks (weighted κ = 0.65 [95% CI, 0.45-0.84]).

FIG 1.

Three steps of the Office Suppression Test procedure, grading suppression on a four-level scale (0, 1, 2, 3). All testing is to be performed while the exodeviation is manifest and the patient is fixing at 6 meters.