TREATMENT OF ANISOMETROPIC AMBLYOPIA IN CHILDREN

Amblyopia is one of the most significant paediatric disorders in ophthalmic and orthotic practice and it is the most common cause of monocular visual loss. It is usually unilateral. It can be bilateral, usually where there is high bilateral refractive error or other binocular pathology. The aim of the study is to determine the effectiveness of spectacles alone in the treatment of anisometropia in paediatric population. This was a hospital based prospective study conducted at Regional Hospital of Fier in Albania between 2012 and 2014. A total of 40 patients (80 eyes) with mean age 11.2 ± 2.72 years were included in the study. There were 30 males (75%) and 10 females (300%). (Table 1) Among these, 28 (70%) had unilateral amblyopia and 12 (30%) had bilateral amblyopia. Many children will have a residual visual deficit despite compliance with treatment. Failure of visual acuity to improve within six months of the commencement of amblyopia treatment should prompt re-refraction and re-examination of the fundus, looking in particular for optic nerve hypoplasia and subtle macular pathology. Progression of visual deficit during treatment, in the absence of obvious ocular pathology, raises the possibility of progressive cerebral pathology.