Amblyopia Fact Sheet
By Shelly Sumner
Commonly known as lazy eye.
Description
Amblyopia is not the result of an eye disease but is a developmental problem of the brain where the eye and the brain are not working together to produce vision. The eye is normal but not being used normally due to the brain favoring one eye over the other resulting in vision loss. There are a variety of causes and if left untreated will result in permanent vision loss.
Amblyopia is the most common cause of visual impairment in childhood. The condition affects approximately 2 to 3 out of every 100 children.
Cause:
Amblyopia may be caused by any condition that affects normal visual development of use of the eyes. It can be caused by strabismus, an imbalance in the position of the two eyes. Strabismus can cause the eyes to cross in or out. It can also be caused when one eye is more near or farsighted than the other or when one eye has astigmatism. Occasionally it can be caused by structural problems in the eye such as congenital cataract, a scar on the cornea or congenital ptosis (drooping eyelid).
Treatment
To treat amblyopia you cause the child to use the eye that is weaker. There are two ways to do this:
Patching:A patch is worn over the stronger eye for a period of weeks to months. This forces the child to use the eye with amblyopia and stimulates vision in the weaker eye.
Eye drops: Atrohine is placed in the stronger eye once a day to temporarily blur the vision so the child will use the eye with amblyopia. Since many children do not like to wear a patch many more children may receive treatment using the eye drops.
It was once thought that treating older children would be of little use, however new research shows that older children (7 to 17) benefit from treatment as well. According to the Prevent Blindness News Release: "Doctors can now feel confident that traditional treatments for amblyopia will work for many older children, said Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., director of the NEI. "This is important because it is estimated that as many as three percent of children in the United States have some degree of vision impairment due to amblyopia. Many of these children do not receive treatment while they are young," he said.
Visual System affected:
In amblyopia the eye is normal but for some reason the brain favors the other eye causing it to ignore the images coming into the brain from the weaker eye.
Effects on the visual system
Lazy eye begins in childhood and should be treated as soon as it is detected. If left untreated the weaker eye could become useless resulting in permanent vision loss.
FunctionalImplications
- Reduced vision in one or both eyes
- Loss of depth perception
- Headaches
- Squinting when reading or watching television
- Tilting of the head when looking at objects
References:
Goldberg, S., & Trattler, W. (2005). Visual Disorders in Ophthalmology Made
Ridiculously Simple(3rd ed., pp 16-17). Miami, FL: MedMaster Inc.
Mills. M., M.D. (Sept. 1999). The Eye in Childhood. American Family Physician,
Retrieved from
Prevent Blindness America News Release. Older Children Can Benefit From Treatment
ForChildhood’s Most Common Eye Disorder. Retrieved from
Prevent Blindness America. (2005). Amblyopia (Lazy Eye). Retrieved from
National Eye Institute, (July 2010). Facts About Amblyopia. Retrieved from