Trends in Etiologies, Demographics, and Neuroimaging in New-Onset Adult Strabismus at an Ophthalmic Emergency Department

Purpose: To evaluate new-onset strabismus in adults presenting to an ophthalmic emergency department, and to identify which patients require neuroimaging. Methods: This was a retrospective review of electronic medical records of patients 18 years and older who presented to an ophthalmic emergency department between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020 with new-onset strabismus. Data regarding demographics, causes, neuroimaging, and resolution were recorded and analyzed. Results: Of the 557 patients in the current study, 54.8% were men and the mean age was 57.3 +/- 16.7 years (range: 18 to 92 years). Most patients (72.4%) presented with diplopia. Esotropia was the most common ocular misalignment (43.6%) and was more common in women than men (51.6% vs 37.0%, respectively) (P = .001). The most common diagnoses were cranial nerve palsies (66.8%) for both sexes and all age groups, with the most common etiology being microvascular (48.1%) for patients 50 years and older and idiopathic (20.1%) for patients between 18 and 49 years old. The incidence of cranial nerve palsies was significantly higher in older patients (P < .001). Neuroimaging was performed in 58% of patients (n = 323), of whom 37.2% (n = 120) had abnormal findings. The most common abnormal neuroimaging finding was mass for all age groups and sexes (19.2%). Patients with cranial nerve palsy and microvascular etiology had a significantly lower proportion of abnormal neuroimaging findings (P < .001). Conclusions: Most cases of new-onset strabismus in adults presenting to the emergency department were due to cranial nerve palsy, particularly in older patients. Despite high rates of neuroimaging, patients with cranial nerve palsy had mostly normal findings. The current study supports the belief that neuroimaging may be deferred in patients older than 50 years with micro vascular risk factors.