Ugnė Kėvalaitė1, Simas Gindriūnas1, Jonas Normantas1, Agnė Šaltkauskaitė2
1 Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Medical Academy, Faculty of medicine
2 Department of Family medicine, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania
Abstract
Background: Amblyopia is an early childhood condition of reduced visual function, usually in one eye but sometimes in both, that is not improved by correcting any refractive error or pathological obstacle to vision. The part of the brain receiving images from the affected eye is not stimulated properly and does not develop to its full visual potential. It results in decreased vision in an eye that otherwise typically appears normal. Amblyopia is the most common cause of decreased vision in a single eye among children and younger adults.
Aim: To provide information on current clinical management of childhood amblyopia and discuss rising trends in treating this disease.
Methods: Literature sources were selected from the PubMed medical database using these keywords: amblyopia, treatment, atropine, occlusion, optical correction.
Results: After conducting the review of literature we determined that the main objective when treating this disease is to train and to improve sight of the amblyopic eye, so that both eyes are able to work together effectively. „Lazy eye“ is usually treated by occlusion, atropine, or optical penalization of the dominant eye. Treatment efficiency declines with increasing age, the detection and management of amblyopia should begin as early as possible during the sensitive period for visual development.
Keywords: Amblyopia, treatment, atropine, occlusion, optical correction.