Wilmer, J.B., Backus, B.T. (2009) Genetic and environmental contributions to strabismus and phoria: Evidence from twins. Vision Research 49: 2485-2493
Abstract
The causes of manifest (strabismus) and latent (phoria) misalignment of the visual axes are incompletely
understood. We calculated genetic and environmental contributions to strabismus based upon a critical
review and quantitative meta-analysis of previous strabismus twin studies (n = 3418 twin pairs) and calculated
contributions to phoria based upon a new twin study (n = 307 twin pairs). Our results suggest
that genetic liability is necessary to develop strabismus, whereas environmental factors are sufficient
to cause most phorias. The different etiologies implied by this work suggest that strabismus and phoria
should be carefully distinguished in epidemiological work.
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