J Korean Ophthalmol Soc.  2009 Nov;50(11):1705-1711.

The Clinical Features With Recurrence of Amblyopia After Cessation of Amblyopic Treatment

• Woo KJ
• Choi MY

Abstract

PURPOSE
To identify the clinical features with recurrence of amblyopia after cessation of amblyopic treatment.
METHODS
Amblyopic children followed up at least 1 year after successful treatment were evaluated. A recurrence of amblyopia was defined as a reduction of more than 2 levels in visual acuity (VA) of the amblyopic eye after cessation of treatment. The age and VA of the amblyopic eye at the start and during follow-up, type of amblyopia, type and duration of treatment, weaning and stereopsis on cessation of treatment were analyzed.
RESULTS
Amblyopia recurred in 5 out of 82 patients with successful treatment, and the period of recurrence varied from 7 to 31 months after cessation of treatment. Two out of 5 recurred patients had only patching therapy and the other 3 patients had atropine penalization after patching therapy. The weaning was performed in the 5 recurred patients at cessation of treatment. There was no remarkable clinical factor associated with recurrence of amblyopia.
CONCLUSIONS
The recurrence rate was 6% after cessation of amblyopic treatment and there was no factor associated with recurrence of amblyopia. Therefore, regular follow-up may be required after successful treatment for amblyopia.

Keyword

Amblyopia; Atropine; Patching; Penalization; Recurrence

MeSH Terms

Amblyopia
Atropine
Child
Depth Perception
Eye
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Recurrence
Visual Acuity
Weaning
Withholding Treatment
Atropine

Figure

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  Figure 1. Kaplan-Meier curve showing cumulative probability of recurrence of amblyopia. Three patients who had stopped atropine penalization developed recurrence at 7.0, 13.3, 13.8 months and two who had stopped patching at 12.3, 30.1 months.

Reference

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