Duane Syndrome

heyy im 13 and im searching for help. i have type 1 duane snydrome in my left eye. and only my left eye. i can look straight ahead and to the right with no problems. to the left my one eye does not move like it should. it seems to be getting better. but i know duane syndrome cannot be fixed. i have had a few surgeries when i was younger so that i would have to turn my head to the left fully. what i was told was that my 6th optic nerve is either damaged or not there. is this possible? my vision did get worst through the years. i've done rearch on duane snydrome to see if blurred vision has anything to do with the snydrome. could this be amblyopia? i have read that this syndrome could be hereditary. is it?  well sorry for all the questions. i just want some answers. so if you could pleeeaassee reply back. thanks much. -samii


This discussion is related to Duanes Syndrome.

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

1. Duane's syndrome and 6th cranial nerve paralysis or paresis are not the same. We do not know why Duane's develops.
2. You might have amblyopia but it should be stable at your age, should have been diagnosed in the past if present and often is NOT present with Duan'es.
3. It may be hereditary but it is not a dominant gene so it is more likely your children will NOT have it than that they will.
4. See an ophthalmologist annually, ideally a strabismus specialist.

JCH MD