الفهرس 
PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF AMBLYOPIAOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 123 |  |  |
| | | from | 123 | | |
Abstract
Amblyopia is reduced visual acuity not improving despite full correction of any refractive error and not attributable to any disease.
It affects approximately 2% of the general population and is considered the most common cause of uniocular visual blindness in children. Amblyopia incidence is estimated to be 0.4% per year in pre-school children.
Amblyopia is mainly due to strabismus and significant refractive errors; whether anisometropia or ametropia. Deprivational amblyopia is also an important cause.
The diagnosis of amblyopia is clinically based and investigations are unnecessary to establish a diagnosis.
Dealing with a patient suffering from amblyopia is an art. Therapy should be started as soon as possible. The age limit for initiating amblyopia therapy has been significantly expanding over the past few years to reach 17 years. This is expected to extend even more into the adult years after the positive results of contrast sensitivity improvement in adults observed after repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation.
Starting with monotherapy is advised and then to be adjust and tailored according to the patient’s compliance and response. Occlusion therapy is one of the first lines of treatment and it is recommended that the child occludes his healthy eye for 4 complete hours every day. Penalization, whether optically or pharmacologically, may also be considered as first line of treatment. LASIK for anisometropic children is an emerging treatment modality with encouraging results.
Correcting the strabismus in an amblyopic eye is a warrant for improving visual acuity in this eye. There is no significant difference between groups of patients undergoing surgical correction of strabismus before amblyopia therapy and those corrected after amblyopia treatment.
It is relevant to emphasize the importance of compliance and follow up in all steps of amblyopia treatment.