Anisometropia and amblyopia in children

Purpose To asses the quality of life for children with anisometropic amblyopia. Methods A retrospective study for 53 children (33 girls and 20 boys) performed in ambulatory clinic in 2010. The average age at first diagnosis is 7.1415 ± 2.9317 years old (limits between 2 and 16 years). During the study the average age of children is 9.4943 ± 3.8422 years (limits between 3 and 20 years). Tracking interval is 1 year in 33.95%, between 2 and 5 years in 60.37% and over 5 years in 5.64%. Clinical parameters observed are: sex, age, visual acuity, optical correction, the type of correction (glasses, contact lenses), strabismic deviation and genetic factor. Results Uncorrected visual acuity average at the right eye is 0.4353 ± 0.3640 and for the left eye is 0.3934 ± 0.3158. Corrected visual acuity average at the right eye is 0.6626 ± 0.3552 and for the left eye is 0.6468 ± 0.3519. Mean objective refraction (in spherical equivalent) at the right eye is ‐5.8214 ± 4.4651 and ‐5.52 ± 5.89 for the left eye. The average cylinder value is ‐0,7783 ± 1,1671 (with a range between maximum = ‐4.75 and minimum = ‐1). For 60.37% of patients, cylinder value is less than 0,75. There is a genetic transmission in 23.21% of cases, predominantly in mother (9.43%) and sister (9.43%). In 39.62% of cases there was esotropia. For 11.32% of cases, optical correction was made with contact lenses. Conclusion 1. As early the diagnosis of anisometropia is made, visual acuity is more easily recovered. 2. The average age of diagnosis in the our cases is 7.1415 ± 2.9317, noting that in Romania children are late diagnosed. 3. It is required a collaboration between the pediatrician, an ophthalmologist and the family for an early diagnosis of refraction errors. 4. Anisometropic amblyopia can be corrected using contact lenses.