Amblyopia

Amblyopia is a reduction of vision in one or both eyes due to a failure of normal neural development in the immature visual system.Amblyopia occurs due to two basic conditions – abnormal binocular interaction (e.g., strabismus) and blurring or distortion of visual image due to uncorrected refractive errors or media opacities. Best-corrected visual acuities in amblyopic eyes range from mild deficits to severe vision loss.The principle of treating amblyopia involves clearing any image blur and encouraging use of the amblyopic eye with occlusion of the better-seeing eye. Paediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG) studies show that both part-time and full-time occlusions can produce similar results in the eye with severe amblyopia and occlusion can be prescribed initially at 2 hours per day for the moderate amblyope. Studies show that daily atropine and patching for 6 hours/day can be equivalent treatment options and that if pharmacologic blurring is used for treatment, initial treatment can begin with just weekend use of atropine for moderate amblyopia.Amblyopia can lead to permanent loss of vision; therefore vision screening is strongly recommended over the course of childhood to detect amblyopia early enough to allow successful treatment.