Description

This article is from the Vision and Eye Care FAQ, by grants@research.canon.com.au (Grant Sayer) with numerous contributions by others.

6.2 Amblyopia ("Lazy Eye")

Amblyopia is defined by Schapero et al. as the condition of reduced visual
acuity which cannot be corrected by refractive means and is not attributed
to structural or pathological ocular anomalies.

Acuities of worse than 20/30 (6/9) are considered to meet the criteria of
amblyopia according to Griffins reference on Binocular Anomalies.

There are a variety of classifications of amblyopia, in general the categories
are organic or functional. Examples of organic amblyopia include;

+ nutritional, e.g poor diet in the case of alcoholism
+ toxic, e.g methyl alcohol poisoning or salicylate poisoning
+ congenital, e.g bilateral or unilateral central scotoma at birth.

Functional amblyopia also has three classifications;
+ hysterical, e.g psychogenic causes giving central visual field defect
+ refractive, e.g uncorrected isometropia resulting in poor visual
acuity development
+ strabismic, e.g long standing suppression in cases of strabismus

Commonly used therapy for amblyopia is occlusion or lens therapy in the
case of refractive. The patching is associated with general to increasing
eye-hand coordinated tasks to stimulate development of the amblyopic eye.

 

Continue to:

• prev: 6.1 Strabismus (Turned Eye)
• Index
• next: 6.3 Problem(s) When Wearing Glasses

Share and Enjoy

Tags

health, vision, eye care, contact lenses, spectacles, eyecare, prescriptions, sunglasses, surgery