Early treatment of children with bilateral amblyopia essential, according to multisite studyOctober 02, 2007When a child is farsighted or has astigmatism or has both conditions in both eyes, bilateral amblyopia may develop. In contrast to single-eye amblyopia or "lazy eye," where one eye presents an unclear image to the brain, bilateral amblyopia affects both eyes and is less common. In an article published in the October issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology, researchers report that this condition can be successfully treated with corrective lenses, particularly when diagnosed and treated early. Left untreated, bilateral amblyopia may result in permanent visual disability. The Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG) conducted a study of 113 children between 3 and 9 years-old with bilateral refractive amblyopia, who were treated with glasses and followed prospectively at 27 community- and university-based sites. After one year, visual acuity measured with both eyes open had improved an average of about 4 lines on the traditional Snellen eye chart. Average visual acuity improved from 20/63 to 20/25, and most children (74%) reached 20/25 or better. Those children who started with visual acuity of 20/100 or worse showed the greatest improvement, averaging 6.3 lines after one year. "This study shows that glasses are a powerful treatment for bilateral amblyopia in children. When we detect and treat this problem early in life, most children are able to achieve normal vision," said Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., Director of the National Eye Institute, one of the Federal government's National Institutes of Health and the agency that sponsored the study.
"Most ophthalmologists or optometrists will see no more than a few cases of bilateral amblyopia each year, which is not enough to be able to do a large study on this condition. The structure of the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group allows us to enroll children at multiple sites to do large studies of important but relatively uncommon conditions like bilateral amblyopia," said David Wallace, M.D., lead author for the study. Elsevier Health Sciences | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Related Amblyopia Current Events and Amblyopia News Articles Genetic mutation identified for eye complaint An international research collaboration including research teams from the Children's Hospital in Boston (USA), King's College London and the Peninsula Medical School, has identified a gene that, when mutated, causes Duane syndrome. Corneal transplant technique shows promise in children For infants and children with blinding diseases of the cornea, a sophisticated new corneal transplantation technique offers the hope of improving vision while overcoming the technical difficulty and low success rate of traditional penetrating keratoplasty (PK) in children, according to reports in the current issue of the Journal of AAPOS (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus). Antidepressants enhance neuronal plasticity in the visual system In the April 18 issue of Science, scientists from the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy and the Neuroscience Centre at the University of Helsinki, Finland, provide new information about the mechanism of action of antidepressant drugs. Early vision screening associated with better eyesight in children with amblyopia Children who screen positive for amblyopia, reduced vision in one eye, before age 2 appear to have better visual outcomes than those whose vision problems are detected during screenings between ages 2 and 4. USC study -- largest of its kind -- finds older children more likely to develop vision disorders In a study of more than 6,000 Los Angeles-area children - the largest study of its kind - researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) found that both strabismus (commonly known as cross-eyed or wall-eyed) and amblyopia (often referred to as lazy eye) were more prevalent in older children than in younger children. No need for children with lazy eye to wear patches all day Children with amblyopia (commonly known as lazy eye) need only wear an eye patch for three to four hours a day for 12 weeks to improve vision, say researchers in a study published on bmj.com today. Fine motor skills, social acceptance lower in children with 'lazy eye' A recent study evaluating the fine motor skills and perceived self esteem of children with amblyopia (or "lazy eye") compared with age-matched children will be presented during the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2007 Annual Meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Revealing the machinery underlying the 'plastic' juvenile brain Among the central mysteries of neurobiology is what properties of the young brain enable it to so adeptly wire itself to adapt to experience—a quality known as plasticity. Leicester breakthrough in eye disease Researchers at the University of Leicester have identified for the first time a gene which causes a distressing eye condition. Their discovery, as reported in the journal Nature Genetics, is expected to lead to better treatments for the condition. Adults with lazy eye can improve Young adults with amblyopia, or lazy eye, can improve substantially and retain their gains under a new treatment developed by researchers at USC and three Chinese universities. More Amblyopia Current Events and Amblyopia News Articles |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||