Abstract
Amblyopia is a neuro-developmental disorder of vision arising from disrupted binocular visual input during early visual cortical development. Current treatment guidelines for children with amblyopia recommend a period of full-time wear of refractive correction prior to initiating patching or atropine treatment, a process known as refractive adaptation or optical treatment. Apart from the immediate benefit of removing optical blur, full anisometropic correction can produce gradual gains in the visual acuity of the amblyopic
eye over a period of months. Within a clinical trial of treatment of amblyopia for
children aged three to seven years, approximately 75 per cent of patients showed clinically significant improvements in visual acuity of the amblyopic eye after optical treatment periods of 15 to 30 weeks. Furthermore, up to 30 per cent of children showed resolution of amblyopia with optical treatment
alone, reducing the need for additional treatments.1 Optical treatment alone was also found to significantly improve visual acuity in 23 per cent of seven- to 17-year-old patients over a 24-week period.2
In routine practice, adults with anisometropic
amblyopia are often not prescribed full refractive
correction on the assumption that no
improvement in vision is possible due to a
lack of neuroplasticity or that anisometropic
correction will not be tolerated. Several case
series have demonstrated that improvements
are possible in adult patients using combined
optical treatment and patching,3,4 perceptual
learning5 or binocular training.6 Despite
growing interest in treatment of amblyopia
for older patients, the effect of optical treatment
alone for adults has not been investigated
in detail. Here, we present a case
which demonstrates that a period of optical
treatment alone can produce significant visual
acuity and stereoacuity gains in
adulthood.
eye over a period of months. Within a clinical trial of treatment of amblyopia for
children aged three to seven years, approximately 75 per cent of patients showed clinically significant improvements in visual acuity of the amblyopic eye after optical treatment periods of 15 to 30 weeks. Furthermore, up to 30 per cent of children showed resolution of amblyopia with optical treatment
alone, reducing the need for additional treatments.1 Optical treatment alone was also found to significantly improve visual acuity in 23 per cent of seven- to 17-year-old patients over a 24-week period.2
In routine practice, adults with anisometropic
amblyopia are often not prescribed full refractive
correction on the assumption that no
improvement in vision is possible due to a
lack of neuroplasticity or that anisometropic
correction will not be tolerated. Several case
series have demonstrated that improvements
are possible in adult patients using combined
optical treatment and patching,3,4 perceptual
learning5 or binocular training.6 Despite
growing interest in treatment of amblyopia
for older patients, the effect of optical treatment
alone for adults has not been investigated
in detail. Here, we present a case
which demonstrates that a period of optical
treatment alone can produce significant visual
acuity and stereoacuity gains in
adulthood.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 392-395 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Clinical and Experimental Optometry |
Volume | 100 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jul 2017 |
Externally published | Yes |