What is strabismus?

Also known as: deviation of the eyes, crossed eyes, heterotropia, squint, exotropia, esotropia.

Strabismus, or crossed eyes, is a common form of eye muscle disorder in young children, frequently occurring in infants/young children by the age of 3 years, that causes the eyes to not look at the same place at the same time. It can be intermittent or present all the time. It’s classified by the direction the eye turns. Inward turning is called esotropia. Outward turning is called exotropia. Upward turning is called hypertropia. Downward turning is called hypotonia.

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Reviewed by: Jack Wolfsdorf, MD, FAAP

This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM