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Children with mixed amblyopia at greater risk of post-treatment vision regression
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Children treated with patching for mixed amblyopia have a significantly greater risk of experiencing a regression in visual acuity after stopping treatment compared with children treated for either anisometropia or strabismus only, a retrospective study found.
Alistair R. Fielder, FRCP, and colleagues reviewed data for 182 children treated with occlusion therapy for unilateral amblyopia. The children averaged 5.9 years of age at the time of treatment cessation, and all had at least one follow-up evaluation within 15 months of stopping treatment, according to the study.
At 1 year follow-up after stopping treatment, children who had both anisometropia and strabismus, or mixed amblyopia, had lost an average of 0.11 ± 0.11 log units in visual acuity. In comparison, children treated for anisometropia only had lost 0.02 ± 0.08 log units and children treated for strabismus only lost 0.05 ± 0.1 log units, according to the study.
"This study supports previous research that it is possible to identify those children most at risk of deterioration in VA following cessation of occlusion therapy," the study authors said.
"The presence of mixed amblyopia was the only risk factor identified in this study. Management of amblyopia should take this into account, with a more intensive follow-up recommended for those with both anisometropia and strabismus amblyopia," they said.
The study is published in the June issue of Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.