Timing of Amblyopia Therapy in Pure Anisometropic Amblyopia.
- Author:
Chul Sin MOON
1
;
Yong Han JIN
Author Information
1. Departmetn of Ophthalmology, University of Ulsan, College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Age factors;
Amblyopia;
Anisometropia;
Treatment outcome;
Visual acuity
- MeSH:
Age Factors;
Amblyopia*;
Anisometropia;
Atropine;
Child;
Follow-Up Studies;
Humans;
Refractive Errors;
Strabismus;
Treatment Outcome;
Visual Acuity
- From:Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society
1998;39(1):185-192
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of age at beginning of treatment on the results of anisometropic amblyopia in twenty-two consecutive children. The children who had strabismus or any other ocular disease affecting visual acuity was excluded. Two age groups were defined, according to the age at which treatment was started : 7 years or less(group I. N=10), 8 years or more(group II. N=12). Mean age of group I was 5.3 years old(4.1-7.9), while group II was 10.2 years old(8.0-13.2). Six patients were treated with occlusion therapy, 11 patients with atropine penalization, 1 patient with occlusion therapy and atropine penalization alternatively and 4 patients with spectacle correction only. All children had cycloplegic refraction before treatment and at each visit the corrected visual acuity was assessed. The difference in refractive errors between two eyes before treatment was 2.58D(1-9D) in group I and 2.75D in group II. The mean initial corrected visual acuity of amblyopic eyes was 0.43 in group I and 0.46 in group II. There was no significant difference in initial visual acuity between the two groups. The range of follow up times was from 5 to 60 months, with an average of 18 months. There was no significant difference in final visual outcome of amblyopic eye between the two groups. For patients aged 7 years or less, 80%(8/10) of patients achieved a final visual acuity of 0.8 or better and 90%(9/10) achieved the same final visual acuity as in the sound eye. For patients aged 8 years or more, 83%(11/12) of patients achieved a final visual acuity of 0.8 or better and 83%(10/12) achieved the same final visual acuity as in the sound eye. The initial visual acuity, the methods of therapy did not affect the final visual outcome. In pure anisometropic amblyopia, the patients older than 8 years of age have been treated as effectively as the patients 7 years or less.
