LASIK shows efficacy for reducing high anisometropia in amblyopic children

Performing LASIK on children with high hyperopic or myopic anisometropic amblyopia can effectively reduce the refractive errors and improve both visual acuity and stereopsis, facilitating management of the amblyopia, according to a study by researchers in China.

Zheng Qin Yin, MD, and colleagues at Southwest Eye Hospital in Chongqing investigated the efficacy of LASIK for reducing anisometropia in 74 amblyopic children aged 6 to 14 years. Specifically, 42 children had high hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia and 32 children had high myopic anisometropic amblyopia.

Follow-up ranged from 6 months to 3 years postoperatively, averaging 17.45 months in the hyperopic group and 18.31 months in the myopic group.

Anisometropic corrections ranged from +3.5 D to +7.75 D in hyperopic children and from –15.75 D to –5 D in myopic children. At 3 years postop, residual anisometropia averaged +0.56 ± 0.75 D in the hyperopic group and –2.2 ± 1.05 D in the myopic group, according to the study.

Both groups had an improvement in best corrected visual acuity for distance and reading.

At 3 years postop among patients with myopic anisometropia, BCVA for distance improved from 0.4 ± 0.25 preoperatively to 0.59 ± 0.28, and BCVA for reading improved from 0.58 ± 0.27 preoperatively to 0.96 ± 0.35.

Also at 3 year postop, patients with hyperopic anisometropia had an improvement in BCVA for distance from 0.23 ± 0.21 preoperatively to 0.53 ± 0.31, and BCVA for reading improved from 0.34 ± 0.32 preoperatively to 0.8 ± 0.33, according to the study.

The proportion of children with stereopsis also increased after surgery, from 19.1% preoperatively to 46.7% in the hyperopic group and from 19% preoperatively to 89% in the myopic group, the authors noted.

The study is published in the December issue of Journal of American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.