RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Dissociated vertical deviation (DVD) is a common innervational entity frequently found in patients with congenital endotropia. It is characterized as being bilateral, asymmetric, and to a greater extent, in the non-fixating eye. It can be compensatory or non-compensatory. In the majority of cases, surgery is the treatment of choice, but spontaneous appearance of DVD is a common occurrence after surgery, sometimes to a degree similar to that prior to surgery. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to evaluate the behavior of dissociated vertical deviation with penalization of the fixating eye. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An experimental and longitudinal study was conducted in which patients with spontaneous DVD were included, whether or not associated with horizontal deviation, with or without previous surgery. Atropine (1%) was applied every 24 h in the fixating eye for 3 months and DVD presence, magnitude, and spontaneity were evaluated at 15 days, 1 month, 3 months, and 1 month after penalization suspension. RESULTS: Eight patients were included. DVD magnitude decreased with penalization (p = 0.02) and remained unchanged when atropine was suspended (p = 0.6). With regard to decompensatory phases, DVD shifted from spontaneous to non-spontaneous during penalization (p = 0.01); when this was eliminated, deviation showed decompensation again (p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Fixating eye penalization with 1% atropine reduces DVD magnitude and decompensatory phases during follow-up.