Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group Research Articles

Effects of Age at Surgery and Laterality of Cataract on Visual Acuity 5 Years after Surgery in Infants Left Aphakic.

Impact of active vision therapy compared to conventional patching therapy on visual acuity and stereoacuity in children with amblyopia

ABSTRACT Purpose To summarize recent literature and provide an update on the role of intraocular lens implantation in children. Design AOC/AACO/AAO 2022 Symposium Summary Intervention None Results Literature review surrounding the use of intraocular lenses in children. Attention was given to multicenter study efforts including the Infant Aphakia Treatment Study, the Toddler Aphakia and Pseudophakia Study, and the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group Cataract Registry. Conclusions Intraocular lenses are a valuable tool in the care of children with lens abnormalities. Recent studies and advancements in fixation techniques have complimented our care and highlighted age and ocular dependent risks. Thorough initial clinical assessment and long-term postoperative management are critical in maximizing outcomes.

BackgroundTo evaluate factors associated with better outcomes from optical treatment alone in amblyopic children from 3 up to 7 years.MethodsData extracted from two studies with similar protocols, Amblyopic Treatment Studies 5 (n = 152) and 13 (n = 128) from the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group database, were used to determine by regression analysis the factors associated with improvements in visual acuity in the amblyopic eye, inter-ocular visual acuity difference and stereoacuity. Input variables were aetiology of amblyopia (anisometropic, strabismic and combined-mechanism amblyopia), treatment compliance, visual acuity, interocular visual acuity difference, stereoacuity, tropia size at distance and near, age and refractive error at baseline.ResultsDespite the range of clinical factors considered, our models explain only a modest proportion of the variance in optical treatment outcomes. The better predictors of the degree of optical treatment success in amblyopic children are visual acuity of the amblyopic eye, interocular visual acuity difference, stereoacuity, treatment compliance and the amblyopic eye spherical-equivalent refractive error. While the aetiology of the amblyopia does not exert a major influence upon treatment outcome, combined-mechanism amblyopes experience the smallest improvement in visual acuity, tropia and stereoacuity and may need longer optical treatment periods.ConclusionsWhile results identify the factors influencing optical treatment outcome in amblyopic children, clinicians will be unable to predict accurately the benefits of optical treatment in individual patients. Whether this is because relevant clinical or non-clinical factors (e.g. nature and volume of daily activities undertaken) influences the outcomes from optical treatment has not yet been identified and remains to be discovered.

Lensectomy with primary intraocular lens (IOL) implantation is often used in the management of nontraumatic pediatric cataract, but long-term data evaluating the association of age and IOL location with the incidence of complications are limited. To describe the incidence of complications and additional eye surgeries through 5 years following pediatric lensectomy with primary IOL implantation and association with age at surgery and IOL location. This prospective cohort study used Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group cataract registry data from 61 institution- and community-based practices over 3 years (June 2012 to July 2015). Participants were children younger than 13 years without baseline glaucoma who had primary IOL implantation (345 bilateral and 264 unilateral) for nontraumatic cataract. Data analysis was performed between September 2021 and January 2023. Lensectomy with primary IOL implantation. Five-year cumulative incidence of complications by age at surgery (<2 years, 2 to <4 years, 4 to <7 years, and 7 to <13 years) and by IOL location (sulcus vs capsular bag) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models. The cohort included 609 eyes from 491 children (mean [SD] age, 5.6 [3.3] years; 261 [53%] male and 230 [47%] female). Following cataract extraction with primary IOL implantation, a frequent complication was surgery for visual axis opacification (VAO) (cumulative incidence, 32%; 95% CI, 27%-36%). Cumulative incidence was lower with anterior vitrectomy at the time of IOL placement (12%; 95% CI, 8%-16%) vs without (58%; 95% CI, 50%-65%), and the risk of undergoing surgery for VAO was associated with not performing anterior vitrectomy (hazard ratio [HR], 6.19; 95% CI, 3.70-10.34; P < .001). After adjusting for anterior vitrectomy at lens surgery, there were no differences in incidence of surgery for VAO by age at surgery (<2 years, HR, 1.35 [95% CI, 0.63-2.87], 2 to <4 years, HR, 0.86 [95% CI, 0.44-1.68], 4 to <7 years, HR, 1.06 [95% CI, 0.72-1.56]; P = .74) or by capsular bag vs sulcus IOL fixation (HR, 1.22; 95% CI, 0.36-4.17; P = .75). Cumulative incidence of glaucoma plus glaucoma suspect by 5 years was 7% (95% CI, 4%-9%), which did not differ by age after controlling for IOL location and laterality. In this cohort study, a frequent complication following pediatric lensectomy with primary IOL was surgery for VAO, which was associated with primary anterior vitrectomy not being performed but was not associated with age at surgery or IOL location. The risk of glaucoma development across all ages at surgery suggests a need for long-term monitoring.

National survey of amblyopia treatment in Japan: comparison with amblyopia treatment study results of the pediatric eye disease investigator group.

ObjectiveTo identify factors associated with visual acuity regression following successful treatment of anisometropic amblyopia.Design and methodThis was a retrospective cohort study. Database records for 100 and 61 children with anisometropic amblyopia who met at least one criterion for successful treatment proposed by the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG) and had at least 1 year of follow-up data available after the criterion was met were analyzed. The study sample was split into two groups, those who regressed within 1 year of successful treatment (no longer met any of the PEDIG criteria for successful treatment) and those who did not. A two-step analysis involving a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression and a logistic regression were used to identify predictor variables for increased risk of regression. A broad range of clinical, perceptual, and demographic variables were included in the analyses.ResultsSixty-eight (42.5%) children regressed within 1 year of successful treatment. Among the 27 predictor variables considered within the statistical modeling process, the three most important for predicting treatment regression were the extent of amblyopic eye visual acuity improvement, age at first hospital visit and sex. Specifically, lower risk of regression was associated with larger amblyopic eye visual acuity improvement with treatment, younger age at initiation of treatment and female sex.ConclusionPatients who received treatment at a younger age and responded well to treatment had a lower risk of treatment regression. This pattern of results suggests that early detection of amblyopia and strategies that enhance treatment adherence may reduce the risk of treatment regression. The higher risk of regression in boys than girls that we observed may reflect known sex differences in brain development and /or sex differences in environment within our sample of children from South China.

To analyze the top 100 most cited papers related to amblyopia. A bibliographic search in the Institute for Scientific Information Web of Knowledge across 55years was performed. Eighty-nine of the 100 papers were published in first-quartile journals. Half (50) of the senior authors were from the USA. Most papers dealt with clinical science (72) and included original research (84). Forty-two of the articles related to all three types of amblyopia (refractive, strabismic and deprivation). Thirty-four related to both strabismic and refractive amblyopia. Around two-thirds of the papers dealt with treatment (34) and pathophysiology (30). Almost a quarter (23%) of the papers were multicenter studies. Nearly half (48) of the papers were published between 2000 and 2010. The Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG) published the highest number of studies (11), which dealt more with treatment (p = 0.01) and had higher average number of citations per years (p = 0.05). A larger number of articles on the treatment of amblyopia are newer (p = 0.01). There was no correlation between the time of their publication and the number of citations (p = 0.68, r = 0.042). Half of the papers were published between 2000 and 2010 and were spearheaded by PEDIG. Most papers dealt with treatment and pathophysiology. This study provides an important historical perspective, emphasizing the need for additional research to better understand this preventable and curable childhood vision impairment.

Welcome to a new era in "Lit Commentary!" I want to thank Tariq Bhatti for the past years of partnering with me in this endeavor. It has been a pleasure to collaborate with him. We now welcome 2 new colleagues to Lit Commentary, Deborah I. Friedman and Marc J. Dinkin, who will work along with me. This is our first "Rodeo" together and you can see we all have different approaches to our reviews. We look forward to finding our groove and get in to some appropriate banter as we ride along! -Mark L. Moster, MD. In this issue of JNO Drs. Marc J. Dinkin, Deborah I. Friedman and Mark L. Moster discuss the following 6 articles: Tu TM, Yi SJ, Koh JS, Saffari SE, Hoe RHM, Chen GJ, Chiew HJ, Tham CH, Seet CYH, Yong MH, Yong KP, Hui AC, Fan BE, Tan BY, Quek AML, Seet RCS, Yeo LLL, Tan K, Thirugnanam UN. Incidence of cerebral venous thrombosis following SARS-CoV-2 infection vs mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in Singapore. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5:e222940.Douglas RS, Dailey R, Subramanian PS, Barbesino G, Ugradar S, Batten R, Qadeer RA, Cameron C. Proptosis and diplopia response with teprotumumab and placebo vs the recommended treatment regimen with intravenous methylprednisolone in moderate-to-severe thyroid eye disease: a meta-analysis and matching-adjusted indirect comparison. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2022;140:328-335.Mikolajczyk B, Ritter A, Larson C, Connett J, Olson J, McClelland C, Lee MS. Red desaturation prevalence and severity in healthy patients. Neurol Clin Pract. 2022;12:1-5.Landau Prat D, Liu GT, Avery RA, Ying GS, Chen Y, Tomlinson LA, Revere KE, Katowitz JA, Katowitz WR. Recovery of vision after optic nerve sheath fenestration in children and adolescents with elevated intracranial pressure. Am J Ophthalmol. 2021;237:173-182.Hummert MW, Schoppe LM, Bellmann-Strobl J, Siebert N, Paul F, Duchow A, Pellkofer H, Kümpfel T, Havla J, Jarius S, Wildemann B, Berthele A, Bergh FT, Pawlitzki M, Klotz L, Kleiter I, Stangel M, Gingele S, Weber MS, Faiss JH, Pul R, Walter A, Zettl UK, Senel M, Stellmann J-P, Häußler V, Hellwig K, Ayzenberg I, Aktas O, Ringelstein M, Schreiber-Katz O, Trebst C; on behalf of the Neuromyelitis Optica Study Group (NEMOS). Costs and health-related quality of life in patients with NMO spectrum disorders and MOG-antibody-associated disease: CHANCENMO study. Neurology. 2022;98:e1184-e1196.Pineles SL, Henderson RJ, Repka MX, Heidary G, Liu GT, Waldman AT, Borchert MS, Khanna S, Graves JS, Collinge JE, Conley JA, Davis PL, Kraker RT, Cotter SA, Holmes JM; Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group. The pediatric optic neuritis prospective outcomes study-two-year results. Ophthalmology. 2022:S0161-6420(22)00234-2. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2022.03.021. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35364222.

To determine the clinical use patterns of control scores for intermittent exotropia. The Newcastle Control Score, Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG) score, and Look And Cover, then Ten seconds of Observation Scale for Exotropia (LACTOSE) Control Score were developed to quantify control of exodeviations. A short survey was posted on the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus forum in August and September 2021. Respondents were asked about their assessment of control in intermittent exotropia, including knowledge and use of the various control scales. One hundred fourteen pediatric ophthalmologists responded; 54.4% (n = 62) reported not using any specific control score for intermittent exotropia, although 61.4% (n = 70) were familiar with the PEDIG score, 37.7% (n = 43) with the Newcastle Control Score, and 7.9% (n = 9) with the LACTOSE Control Score. The PEDIG score was the most widely used (26.3%, n = 30), but 36.7% (n = 11) of respondents reported that the scale is too time-intensive, limiting its use. To improve the use of the control scores, participants recommended promoting wider understanding of the scales (45.6%, n = 52). Most responding pediatric ophthalmologists do not use a specific control score in managing intermittent exotropia. The PEDIG score is the most frequently used but is reported as time-intensive. Although the LACTOSE Control Score was designed to provide a quicker alternative, it is not widely known. Promoting wider awareness and understanding of intermittent exotropia control scores may be helpful to allow for more objective quantification of control in intermittent exotropia. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2023;60(2):131-138.].

Cataract is an important cause of visual impairment in children. Data from a large pediatric cataract surgery registry can provide real-world estimates of visual outcomes and the 5-year cumulative incidence of adverse events. To assess visual acuity (VA), incidence of complications and additional eye operations, and refractive error outcomes 5 years after pediatric lensectomy among children younger than 13 years. This prospective cohort study used data from the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group clinical research registry. From June 2012 to July 2015, 61 eye care practices in the US, Canada, and the UK enrolled children from birth to less than 13 years of age who had undergone lensectomy for any reason during the preceding 45 days. Data were collected from medical record reviews annually thereafter for 5 years until September 28, 2020. Lensectomy with or without implantation of an intraocular lens (IOL). Best-corrected VA and refractive error were measured from 4 to 6 years after the initial lensectomy. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to assess the 5-year incidence of glaucoma or glaucoma suspect and additional eye operations. Factors were evaluated separately for unilateral and bilateral aphakia and pseudophakia. A total of 994 children (1268 eyes) undergoing bilateral or unilateral lensectomy were included (504 [51%] male; median age, 3.6 years; range, 2 weeks to 12.9 years). Five years after the initial lensectomy, the median VA among 701 eyes with available VA data (55%) was 20/63 (range, 20/40 to 20/100) in 182 of 316 bilateral aphakic eyes (58%), 20/32 (range, 20/25 to 20/50) in 209 of 386 bilateral pseudophakic eyes (54%), 20/200 (range, 20/50 to 20/618) in 124 of 202 unilateral aphakic eyes (61%), and 20/65 (range, 20/32 to 20/230) in 186 of 364 unilateral pseudophakic eyes (51%). The 5-year cumulative incidence of glaucoma or glaucoma suspect was 46% (95% CI, 28%-59%) in participants with bilateral aphakia, 7% (95% CI, 1%-12%) in those with bilateral pseudophakia, 25% (95% CI, 15%-34%) in those with unilateral aphakia, and 17% (95% CI, 5%-28%) in those with unilateral pseudophakia. The most common additional eye surgery was clearing the visual axis, with a 5-year cumulative incidence of 13% (95% CI, 8%-17%) in participants with bilateral aphakia, 33% (95% CI, 26%-39%) in those with bilateral pseudophakia, 11% (95% CI, 6%-15%) in those with unilateral aphakia, and 34% (95% CI, 28%-39%) in those with unilateral pseudophakia. The median 5-year change in spherical equivalent refractive error was -8.38 D (IQR, -11.38 D to -2.75 D) among 89 bilateral aphakic eyes, -1.63 D (IQR, -3.13 D to -0.25 D) among 130 bilateral pseudophakic eyes, -10.75 D (IQR, -20.50 D to -4.50 D) among 43 unilateral aphakic eyes, and -1.94 D (IQR, -3.25 D to -0.69 D) among 112 unilateral pseudophakic eyes. In this cohort study, development of glaucoma or glaucoma suspect was common in children 5 years after lensectomy. Myopic shift was modest during the 5 years after placement of an intraocular lens, which should be factored into implant power selection. These results support frequent monitoring after pediatric cataract surgery to detect glaucoma, visual axis obscuration causing reduced vision, and refractive error.

ABSTRACT Purpose To evaluate the acceptability of a novel occlusion dose monitor (ODM) for glasses wearers with amblyopia. The novel ODM consists of a patch worn over the glasses, a logger affixed to the glasses frame, and a system that processes the logged data for interpretation by an algorithm. Methods In this pilot study, pediatric amblyopes (ages 2–8) were recruited for a cosmesis test of a sham logger for a 1-week period. Patients were then recruited to test a functional ODM for a 2-week period and their parents were asked to document patch wear in a diary. Feedback was solicited using a modified Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG) Amblyopia Treatment Index (ATI). Results Five children tested the sham logger and eight children tested the functional ODM. Early feedback recommended esthetic modifications including the use of colored shrink wrap to affix the logger to the glasses’ frame. The modified patch did not reduce patients’ willingness to wear the patch as compared to a standard patch. ODM-recorded wear correlated with diary-recorded wear. The specific timestamps for wear were identical for patients with good ODM-diary concordance. Conclusions The novel ODM is acceptable for parents and children and correlates with diary records of patch wear.

The Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group Cataract Registry provides a multicenter assessment of visual outcomes and complications after lensectomy for traumatic pediatric cataract. To report visual acuity (VA) and the cumulative proportion with strabismus, glaucoma, and other ocular complications by 15 months after lensectomy for traumatic cataract among children younger than 13 years at the time of surgery. From June 18, 2012, to July 8, 2015, 1266 eyes of 994 children from 33 pediatric eye care practices seen within 45 days after lensectomy were enrolled in a multicenter, prospective observational registry. Of these, 74 eyes of 72 participants undergoing lensectomy for traumatic cataract were included in a cohort study. Follow-up was completed by November 2, 2015, and data were analyzed from March 20, 2018, to July 7, 2020. Lensectomy after ocular trauma. Best-corrected VA from 9 to 15 months after lensectomy for traumatic cataract (for those 3 years or older) and the cumulative proportion with strabismus, glaucoma, and other ocular complications by 15 months. Of 994 participants in the registry, 84 (8%) had traumatic cataract. The median age at lensectomy for 72 participants examined within 15 months after surgery was 7.3 (range, 0.1-12.6) years; 46 (64%) were boys. An intraocular lens was placed in 57 of 74 eyes (77%). In children 3 years or older at outcome, the median best-corrected VA was 20/250 (range, 20/20 to worse than 20/800) in 6 eyes with aphakia and 20/63 (range, 20/20 to 20/200) in 26 eyes with pseudophakia. Postoperative visual axis opacification was reported in 18 of 27 eyes with pseudophakia without primary posterior capsulotomy (15-month cumulative proportion, 77%; 95% CI, 58%-92%). The cumulative proportion with strabismus was 43% (95% CI, 31%-58%) in 64 participants with ocular alignment data; exotropia was present in 14 of 23 participants (61%). The cumulative proportion with glaucoma was 6% (95% CI, 2%-16%). Trauma was not a common cause of pediatric cataract requiring surgery. For children with traumatic cataract, substantial ocular morbidity including permanent vision loss was found, and long-term eye and vision monitoring are needed for glaucoma, strabismus, and capsular opacification.

This is the first large-scale randomized clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness and safety of overminus spectacle therapy for treatment of intermittent exotropia (IXT). To evaluate the effectiveness of overminus spectacles to improve distance IXT control. This randomized clinical trial conducted at 56 clinical sites between January 2017 and January 2019 associated with the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group enrolled 386 children aged 3 to 10 years with IXT, a mean distance control score of 2 or worse, and a refractive error between 1.00 and -6.00 diopters (D). Data analysis was performed from February to December 2020. Participants were randomly assigned to overminus spectacle therapy (-2.50 D for 12 months, then -1.25 D for 3 months, followed by nonoverminus spectacles for 3 months) or to nonoverminus spectacle use. Primary and secondary outcomes were the mean distance IXT control scores of participants examined after 12 months of treatment (primary outcome) and at 18 months (3 months after treatment ended) assessed by an examiner masked to treatment group. Change in refractive error from baseline to 12 months was compared between groups. Analyses were performed using the intention-to-treat population. The mean (SD) age of 196 participants randomized to overminus therapy and 190 participants randomized to nonoverminus treatment was 6.3 (2.1) years, and 226 (59%) were female. Mean distance control at 12 months was better in participants treated with overminus spectacles than with nonoverminus spectacles (1.8 vs 2.8 points; adjusted difference, -0.8; 95% CI, -1.0 to -0.5; P < .001). At 18 months, there was little or no difference in mean distance control between overminus and nonoverminus groups (2.4 vs 2.7 points; adjusted difference, -0.2; 95% CI, -0.5 to 0.04; P = .09). Myopic shift from baseline to 12 months was greater in the overminus than the nonoverminus group (-0.42 D vs -0.04 D; adjusted difference, -0.37 D; 95% CI, -0.49 to -0.26 D; P < .001), with 33 of 189 children (17%) in the overminus group vs 2 of 169 (1%) in the nonoverminus group having a shift higher than 1.00 D. Children 3 to 10 years of age had improved distance exotropia control when assessed wearing overminus spectacles after 12 months of overminus treatment; however, this treatment was associated with increased myopic shift. The beneficial effect of overminus lens therapy on distance exotropia control was not maintained after treatment was tapered off for 3 months and children were examined 3 months later. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02807350.

Optic neuritis (ON) in children is uncommon. There are limited prospective data for visual acuity (VA) outcomes, associated diseases, and neuroimaging findings. Prospective data from a large sample would be useful for counseling families on treatment decisions and prognosis. To prospectively study children with a first episode of ON, describe VA after 6 months, and ascertain the network's (Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group and Neuro-Ophthalmology Research Disease Investigator Consortium) ability to enroll pediatric patients with ON prospectively. This nonrandomized cohort study was conducted from September 20, 2016, to July 20, 2018, at 23 sites in the United States and Canada in pediatric ophthalmology or neuro-ophthalmology clinics. A total of 44 children (aged 3-15 years) presented with a first episode of ON (visual loss, pain on eye movements, or both) within 2 weeks of symptom onset and at least 1 of the following in the affected eye: a distance high-contrast VA (HCVA) deficit of at least 0.2 logMAR below age-based norms, diminished color vision, abnormal visual field, or optic disc swelling. Exclusion criteria included preexisting ocular abnormalities or a previous episode of ON. Primary outcomes were monocular HCVA and low-contrast VA at 6 months. Secondary outcomes were neuroimaging, associated diagnoses, and antibodies for neuromyelitis optica and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein. A total of 44 children (mean age [SD], 10.2 [3.5] years; 26 boys [59%]; 23 White individuals [52%]; 54 eyes) were enrolled in the study. Sixteen patients (36%) had bilateral ON. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed white matter lesions in 23 children (52%). Of these children, 8 had myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-associated demyelination (18%), 7 had acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (16%), 5 had multiple sclerosis (11%), and 3 had neuromyelitis optica (7%). The baseline mean HCVA was 0.95 logMAR (20/200), which improved by a mean 0.76 logMAR (95% CI, 0.54-0.99; range, -0.70 to 1.80) to 0.12 logMAR (20/25) at 6 months. The baseline mean distance low-contrast VA was 1.49 logMAR (20/640) and improved by a mean 0.72 logMAR (95% CI, 0.54-0.89; range, -0.20 to 1.50) to 0.73 logMAR (20/100) at 6 months. Baseline HCVA was worse in younger participants (aged <10 years) with associated neurologic autoimmune diagnoses, white matter lesions, and in those of non-White race and non-Hispanic ethnicity. The data did not suggest a statistically significant association between baseline factors and improvement in HCVA. The study network did not reach its targeted enrollment of 100 pediatric patients with ON over 2 years. This indicates that future treatment trials may need to use different inclusion criteria or plan a longer enrollment period to account for the rarity of the disease. Despite poor VA at presentation, most children had marked improvement by 6 months. Associated neurologic autoimmune diagnoses were common. These findings can be used to counsel families about the disease.

Amblyopia therapy options have traditionally been limited to penalisation of the non-amblyopic eye with either patching or pharmaceutical penalisation. Solid evidence, mostly from the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group, has...

An evidence basis for surgical correction of intermittent exotropia is limited. One randomized controlled trial found an advantage of unilateral two-rectus muscle recession surgery compared with bilateral lateral rectus muscle surgery after one year of follow-up. One prospective trial compared observation with surgery and found surgery to be associated with improvement in quality of life, but noted that 10 of 25 patients were thought to have unsatisfactory alignment 9 months after surgery. Results of a randomized controlled surgical trial of intermittent exotropia including 265 participants with 3-year follow-up by the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group are anticipated in 2017.

Abstract Recent randomized clinical trials and observational studies conducted by the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group, and other research teams, have led to an evidence‐based approach for treating anisometropic and strabismic amblyopia. Starting spectacle correction first, as optical treatment alone, results in resolution of amblyopia in at least a quarter of children. Starting low intensity treatment is the next reasonable step, offering parents a choice between 2 hours a day of patching the fellow eye or atropine drops to the fellow eye at the weekend. If amblyopia does not completely respond to these low‐intensity approaches, then more intense patching is warranted, such as patching 6 to 8 hours a day or changing the spectacle lens to plano while using atropine to increase penalization. We also have evidence that treating older children (13‐17 years old) has merit, particularly if not previously offered treatment. But despite these advances in treatment of amblyopia, one of our ongoing challenges is that a proportion of children are still left with residual amblyopia, so we continue to investigate alternative approaches such as oral levodopa as an adjunct to patching and a new treatment approach based on binocularity.

Screening, confirming, and treating amblyopia based on binocularity.

Amblyopia comes from the Greek word meaning dull sight or blunt sight. Amblyopia occurs to abnormal visual experience early in life. It can be both unilateral (U/L) and/or bilateral (B/L). Amblyopia itself produces no change in the appearance of ocular structures, but it nearly always develops in association with some other condition that is evident on physical examination, and which is responsible for abnormal visual experience. It is one of the most common causes of visual impairment in childhood. Unless it is successfully treated in early childhood, amblyopia usually persists into adulthood. In 1997, the pediatric eye disease investigator group (PEDIG) was formed to conduct clinical research in eye disorders affecting children. The studies were conducted through simple protocols with limited data collection and implemented by both university and community based pediatric eye care practitioners as part of their routine practice in USA. Hence PEDIG has laid emphasis on studies of treatment modalities of amblyopia, the Amblyopia Treatment Studies (ATS). The recent general guidelines for occlusion therapy are based on ongoing ATS. New concepts of management on amblyopia are practiced now- a-days based on ATS. This article is an update on amblyopia and its management. Nepal Journal of Medical Sciences | Volume 02 | Number 01 | Jan-Jun 2013 | Page 66-72 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njms.v2i1.7656