Daniel Mojon (born July 29, 1963, in Bern, Switzerland) is a Swiss ophthalmologist and ophthalmic surgeon who is considered to be the inventor of minimally invasive strabismus surgery (MISS), a method of surgically correcting squinting that uses only very small incisions of two to three millimeters and is supposed to lead to quicker rehabilitation and wound healing. [1] [2] [3] Daniel Mojon is president of the program committee of the Swiss Academy of Ophthalmology (SAoO). [4]
Mojon has published several studies demonstrating the extent to which people with strabismus suffer discrimination and stigmatizing in daily life - squinting children, for instance, get invited, als Mojon could prove, to fewer birthday parties. [5] [6] [7] Specialized in treating strabismus since the 1990s, Mojon developed minimally invasive strabismus surgery (MISS) as an alternative to conventional and more traumatizing surgical techniques that use a limbal approach to allow direct access to Tenon's space for horizontal muscle resection, recession or plication. Unlike these conventional techniques, minimally-invasive strabismus surgery is done using an operation microscope and usually under general anaesthesia. Reportedly, there is considerably less swelling the day after the operation after MISS than following more extensive surgical opening of the conjunctiva. The long-term outcomes with respect to alignment, visual acuity and complications were comparable. [8] For his introduction of this technique, Mojon in 2020 was honored by the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) as an "Unsung Hero". [9]
Strabismus is a vision disorder in which the eyes do not properly align with each other when looking at an object. The eye that is focused on an object can alternate. The condition may be present occasionally or constantly. If present during a large part of childhood, it may result in amblyopia, or lazy eyes, and loss of depth perception. If onset is during adulthood, it is more likely to result in double vision.
Eye surgery, also known as ophthalmic or ocular surgery, is surgery performed on the eye or its adnexa, by an ophthalmologist, or sometimes an optometrist. Eye surgery is synonymous with ophthalmology. The eye is a very fragile organ, and requires extreme care before, during, and after a surgical procedure to minimize or prevent further damage. An expert eye surgeon is responsible for selecting the appropriate surgical procedure for the patient, and for taking the necessary safety precautions. Mentions of eye surgery can be found in several ancient texts dating back as early as 1800 BC, with cataract treatment starting in the fifth century BC. Today it continues to be a widely practiced type of surgery, with various techniques having been developed for treating eye problems.
Duane syndrome is a congenital rare type of strabismus most commonly characterized by the inability of the eye to move outward. The syndrome was first described by ophthalmologists Jakob Stilling (1887) and Siegmund Türk (1896), and subsequently named after Alexander Duane, who discussed the disorder in more detail in 1905.
The superior rectus muscle is a muscle in the orbit. It is one of the extraocular muscles. It is innervated by the superior division of the oculomotor nerve (III). In the primary position, its primary function is elevation, although it also contributes to intorsion and adduction. It is associated with a number of medical conditions, and may be weak, paralysed, overreactive, or even congenitally absent in some people.
The inferior rectus muscle is a muscle in the orbit near the eye. It is one of the four recti muscles in the group of extraocular muscles. It originates from the common tendinous ring, and inserts into the anteroinferior surface of the eye. It depresses the eye (downwards).
The inferior oblique muscle or obliquus oculi inferior is a thin, narrow muscle placed near the anterior margin of the floor of the orbit. The inferior oblique is one of the extraocular muscles, and is attached to the maxillary bone (origin) and the posterior, inferior, lateral surface of the eye (insertion). The inferior oblique is innervated by the inferior branch of the oculomotor nerve.
Exotropia is a form of strabismus where the eyes are deviated outward. It is the opposite of esotropia and usually involves more severe axis deviation than exophoria. People with exotropia often experience crossed diplopia. Intermittent exotropia is a fairly common condition. "Sensory exotropia" occurs in the presence of poor vision in one eye. Infantile exotropia is seen during the first year of life, and is less common than "essential exotropia" which usually becomes apparent several years later.
Sixth nerve palsy, or abducens nerve palsy, is a disorder associated with dysfunction of cranial nerve VI, which is responsible for causing contraction of the lateral rectus muscle to abduct the eye. The inability of an eye to turn outward, results in a convergent strabismus or esotropia of which the primary symptom is diplopia in which the two images appear side-by-side. Thus, the diplopia is horizontal and worse in the distance. Diplopia is also increased on looking to the affected side and is partly caused by overaction of the medial rectus on the unaffected side as it tries to provide the extra innervation to the affected lateral rectus. These two muscles are synergists or "yoke muscles" as both attempt to move the eye over to the left or right. The condition is commonly unilateral but can also occur bilaterally.
Hypertropia is a condition of misalignment of the eyes (strabismus), whereby the visual axis of one eye is higher than the fellow fixating eye. Hypotropia is the similar condition, focus being on the eye with the visual axis lower than the fellow fixating eye. Dissociated vertical deviation is a special type of hypertropia leading to slow upward drift of one or rarely both eyes, usually when the patient is inattentive.
Marshall Miller Parks was an American ophthalmologist known to many as "the father of pediatric ophthalmology".
Iridodialysis is a localized separation or tearing away of the iris from its attachment to the ciliary body.
Strabismus surgery is surgery on the extraocular muscles to correct strabismus, the misalignment of the eyes. Strabismus surgery is a one-day procedure that is usually performed under general anesthesia most commonly by either a neuro- or pediatric ophthalmologist. The patient spends only a few hours in the hospital with minimal preoperative preparation. After surgery, the patient should expect soreness and redness but is generally free to return home.
Gene Folk was an American ophthalmologist who specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of strabismus. A charter member of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, he later served as President of this organization. With Martin Urist, Folk helped found the "Chicago" school of strabismus, whose ideas competed with and stimulated those of Marshall M. Parks, Arthur Jampolsky, and other prominent strabismologists. During the 1950s and 1960s, Urist and Knapp's contributions led to a much improved understanding of so-called A and V "pattern" strabismus, where the amplitude of deviation varies in up- and downgaze.
Burt Kushner is an American pediatric ophthalmologist specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of strabismus. Kushner's contributions include demonstration of improved visual fields of patients following strabismus surgery, elucidation of torsional contribution to patients with diplopia, corticosteroid treatment of periocular capillary hemangioma, and novel hypotheses on the mechanism of "overacting" extraocular muscles.
Infantile esotropia is an ocular condition of early onset in which one or either eye turns inward. It is a specific sub-type of esotropia and has been a subject of much debate amongst ophthalmologists with regard to its naming, diagnostic features, and treatment.
Dissociated vertical deviation (DVD) is an eye condition which occurs in association with a squint, typically infantile esotropia. The exact cause is unknown, although it is logical to assume it is from faulty innervation of eye muscles.
Cyclotropia is a form of strabismus in which, compared to the correct positioning of the eyes, there is a torsion of one eye about the eye's visual axis. Consequently, the visual fields of the two eyes appear tilted relative to each other. The corresponding latent condition – a condition in which torsion occurs only in the absence of appropriate visual stimuli – is called cyclophoria.
Botulinum toxin therapy of strabismus is a medical technique used sometimes in the management of strabismus, in which botulinum toxin is injected into selected extraocular muscles in order to reduce the misalignment of the eyes. The injection of the toxin to treat strabismus, reported upon in 1981, is considered to be the first ever use of botulinum toxin for therapeutic purposes. Today, the injection of botulinum toxin into the muscles that surround the eyes is one of the available options in the management of strabismus. Other options for strabismus management are vision therapy and occlusion therapy, corrective glasses and prism glasses, and strabismus surgery.
The management of strabismus may include the use of drugs or surgery to correct the strabismus. Agents used include paralytic agents such as botox used on extraocular muscles, topical autonomic nervous system agents to alter the refractive index in the eyes, and agents that act in the central nervous system to correct amblyopia.
Minimally invasive strabismus surgery (MISS) is a technique in strabismus surgery that uses smaller incisions than the classical surgical approach to correct the condition, thus minimizing tissue disruption. The technique was introduced by Swiss ophthalmologist Daniel Mojon around 2007, after the Belgian ophthalmologist Marc Gobin described the idea in 1994 in a French-language textbook.