Lazy Eye (Amblyopia)

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  Lazy
Eye (Amblyopia) 		Kristen DiPaolo | CWK Network
 
 
“We often times would give (teenagers with lazy eye) very little
hope there would be any improvement with treatment. Now we can give them
some hope that there is still some potential for improvement.”
-Dr. Scott Lambert, MD, Emory Eye Center
  Related Information What Parents Need To Know Resources

Andrew was having
trouble catching fly balls, hit to his left. His father Steve says, “The
coach told us, ‘Hey, I think Andrew can’t see too well
out of his left eye.’”

So his parents took him to see an eye doctor. Andrew’s
Mom Angie says, “She turns around and says, ‘He
has absolutely no vision in his left eye, and has 20/50 in the
right eye because he has been straining and using that eye a lot
more.’”

Andrew has amblyopia, a condition where the brain begins to favor
one eye. Angie says, “The first doctor said, ‘There
is nothing that you could do. It’s too late. He is seven.
You should have caught it before he was five.’”

An eye patch over the healthy eye can force the other eye to
work harder. But doctors used to believe this would only help if
the disease was caught early. Angie says, “You feel like, ‘Oh
my God! What did I do? I’m the parent, why didn’t I
see it?’”

But new research in the Archives of Opthamology shows wearing
a patch for two hours a day can be effective through age seventeen.
After wearing a patch for six months, half the older kids in the
study could read two more lines on an eye chart.

Still, doctors believe its better to start treatment earlier.
Pediatric opthamologist Dr. Scott Lambert of the Emory Eye Center
says, “I think the difference is you would see improvement
more quickly in the younger child, and also they would improve
more then just those two lines.”

Andrew has been wearing the patch for two months. Vision in his
left eye has improved by nearly 50 percent. Andrew says, “I
can see everything that I didn’t see before.”

New studies show wearing a patch for two hours a day, can be
just as effective as wearing one for much longer.

By Larry Eldridge
CWK Network, Inc.

Amblyopia is poor vision in an eye that did not develop normal sight
during early childhood. It is sometimes called “lazy eye.” When
one eye develops good vision while the other does not, the eye with poorer
vision is called amblyopic. Usually, only one eye is affected by amblyopia.
It is fairly common, affecting about 2 percent of children. The best time
to correct the disease is during infancy or early childhood. Parents must
be aware of this potential problem if they want to protect their child’s
vision.

Amblyopia is caused by any condition that affects normal use of
the eyes and visual development. In many cases, the conditions associated
with amblyopia may be inherited. Children in a family with a history
of amblyopia or misaligned eyes should be checked by an ophthalmologist
early in life. Amblyopia has three major causes, as cited by the
American Academy of Ophthalmology:

  • Strabismus (misaligned eyes): Amblyopia occurs most commonly
    with misaligned or crossed eyes. The crossed eye “turns off” to
    avoid double vision and the child uses only the better eye.
  • Unequal focus (refractive error): Refractive errors are
    eye conditions that are corrected by wearing glasses. Amblyopia
    occurs when one eye is out of focus because it is more nearsighted,
    farsighted or astigmatic than the other. The unfocused (blurred)
    eye “turns off” and becomes amblyopic. The eyes can
    look normal, but one eye has poor vision. This is the most difficult
    type of amblyopia to detect and requires careful measurement of
    vision.
  • Cloudiness in the normally clear eye tissues: An
    eye disease such as a cataract (a clouding of the eye’s natural
    lens) may lead to amblyopia. Any factor that prevents a clear image
    from being focused inside the eye can lead to the development of
    amblyopia in a child. This is often the most severe form of amblyopia.
 
By Larry Eldridge
CWK Network, Inc.

Amblyopia can be very difficult to recognize and diagnose.
Often, a child may not even be aware of having one strong eye and one weak
eye. Unless the child has a misaligned eye or some other obvious physiological
abnormality, parents usually have no way to tell that something is wrong.
This is one reason why vision screening by qualified medical caregivers
is so important.

Ophthalmologists detect amblyopia in children by finding a difference
in vision between the two eyes. Since it is difficult to measure
vision in young children, the ophthalmologist often estimates visual
acuity by watching how well a child follows objects with one eye
when the other eye is covered. If one eye is amblyopic and the good
eye is covered, the child may attempt to look around the patch, try
to pull it off or cry.

Fortunately, amblyopia is a very treatable problem. In general
terms, to correct amblyopia, a child must be made to use his or her
weaker eye. Patching or covering the strong eye for a period of time
is usually the method used to treat the problem. Glasses may also
be prescribed to correct errors in focusing.

Occasionally, amblyopia is treated by blurring the vision in the
good eye with special eye drops or lenses to force the child to use
the amblyopic eye. Surgery may be required to correct misaligned
eyes. After surgery, glasses or contact lenses can be used to restore
focusing, while patching improves vision. However, the ophthalmologist
will begin treating the amblyopia before any surgery is performed.

It is important for parents to remember that poor vision in one
eye does not always mean that a child has amblyopia. Vision can often
be improved by prescribing glasses for a child. If your child does
have amblyopia, however, and the problem is not treated, more severe
problems may occur:

  • The amblyopic eye may develop a serious and permanent visual
    defect.
  • Depth perception (seeing in three dimensions) may be lost.
  • If the good eye becomes diseased or injured, a lifetime of poor
    vision may be the result.

Your ophthalmologist can give you instructions on how to treat amblyopia,
but it is up to you and your child to carry out this treatment. Children
do not like to have their eyes patched, especially if they have been
depending on that eye to see clearly. But as a parent, you must convince
your child to do what is best for him or her. Successful treatment
mostly depends on your interest and involvement, as well as your ability
to gain your child’s cooperation.

 

American Academy of Ophthalmology