Explains amblyopia, or lazy eye, as reduced vision in an otherwise normal-looking eye caused by poor coordination between eye and brain. It covers causes such as refractive differences, misalignment and early visual deprivation, the clinical signs, and the three types: strabismic, refractive and deprivational. It then outlines diagnosis and treatment, including correcting the optical deficit and forcing use of the weaker eye by patching or atropine, followed by a section on normal visual development in infancy.
Topic 83 of 91 in the MU Sofia syllabus for Ophthalmology (Medicine, Year 4). The free AceMed note covers it in 1 section, about 491 words (3 min of reading), with 15 flashcards.
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Amblyopia, vision in early age
Amblyopia, vision in early age
Amblyopia
"lazy eye", is a disorder of sight due to the eye and brain not working well together -> results in decreased vision in an eye that otherwise typically appears normal
Most common cause of decreased vision in a single eye in children
Cause:
Any condition that interferes with focusing during early childhood
Poor alignment of the eyes; irregular shaped eye, clouding of the lens
When one eye has much better focus than the other eye (farsighted or astigmatism)
Clinic
Many patients are not aware, if it's the mild form, they have the condition until tested at older ages, since the vision in their stronger eye is normal
Stereo vision, poor pattern recognition poor visual acuity and low sensitivity to contrast and motion
Reduction of visual acuity
Types
Strabismic:
Refractive: by anisometropia (difference of a certain degree of nearsightedness, farsightedness)
Deprivational: by deprivation of vision early in life by vision- obstructing disorders such as congenital cataract
Diagnosis
Identifying low visual acuity in one or both eyes
Retinal birefringence scanning
Treatment
Correcting the optical deficit
Forced use of the amblyopic exe, by patching the good eye or using atropine
Vision in early age
The ability to focus their eyes, move them accurately, and use them together as a team must be learned
Healthy eyes and good vision play a critical role in how infants and children learn to see. Eye and vision problems in infants can cause developmental delays.
At birth, babies' vision is abuzz with all kinds of visual stimulation. While they may look intently at a highly contrasted target, babies have not yet developed the ability to easily tell the difference between two targets or move their eyes between the two images. Their primary focus is on objects 8 to 10 inches from their face or the distance to parent's face
During the first months of life, the eyes start working together and vision rapidly improves. Eye-hand coordination begins to develop as the infant starts tracking moving objects with his or her eyes and reaching for them. By eight weeks, babies begin to more easily focus their eyes on the faces of a parent or other person near them#
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