Am Orthopt J  49: 12-16  (1999).

The Treatment of Convergence Insufficiency

Judy L. Petrunak, C.O., C.O.T.

Idiopathic convergence insufficiency is characterized by inadequate fusional convergence, causing a variety of asthenopic symptoms which occur during the act of reading.

Orthoptic therapy to increase fusional convergence amplitudes and enhance voluntary convergence is the primary treatment of convergence insufficiency. When unresponsive to orthoptic therapy, other treatment options include optical correction with base-in prisms or surgical intervention in cases associated with a near exophoria. Convergence-accommodative insufficiency and subnormal convergence associated with head trauma are entities that are symptomatically similar to classic convergence insufficiency, but do not demonstrate the same response to orthoptic therapy.

© 1999 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System