Do I Have Duane Syndrome?

Hello, I am a 15 year-old male and I was diagnosed with Duane Syndrome when I was maybe 9 or 10. Since birth my parents have noticed that my left eye usually stares off into space to my left while my right eye looks straigth ahead and they took me to many doctors to find out what the problem was. When we found out that I had Duane Sydrome, we accepted the fact and we accepted that there was nothing we could do about it. However, as I read up on symptoms of Duane Syndrome, causes, and other cases of it, I begin to question whether I was correctly diagnosed. First of all, I practically have full use of both of my eyes (I have 20/20 vision in my right (good) eye and about 20/40 in my left ("bad") eye. When I look at something with my right eye, my left eye shoots off to the left. But I can swich which eye I look at things with; when I look at something with my left eye, my right eye shoots off the the right and slighty upward. When I want to look at something to my right, left, up, or down, both of my eyes move in that direction and that sometimes gives them the appearance that they are aligned properly. Secondly, I have no depth perception and no binocular vision; instead of one uniform picture, I have two clashing images with the contradiction generally just to the left of the center of my field of vision. This also leads to double-vision. Also, I do not tilt my head in any direction and I don't believe I have ever had a "head-tilt" when I was younger. If anybody has any information that might help me, it would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[phriskiii]

Sorry, one more thing; as far as anyone has noticed, I can move both of my eyes in fully in any which direction I want. My left eye (the bad one) is not restricted at all in movement. However, I cannot go "cross-eyed" and stare at my nose with both eyes at once; only one at a time.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

There is another posting going on right now about Duane's syndrome. You should read it. And perhaps youwould benefit by conversing with the other poster with Duane's.

JCH MD