Maintenance of improvement gains in refractive amblyopia: a comparison of treatment modalities

In June of 1999, an initial study reported on the effect of differing treatment modalities in improving visual acuity and stereoacuity in patients with unilateral refractive amblyopia. This study reports on the patients' visual maintenance of acuity gains for each specified treatment modality. Patients were re-evaluated over a 1- to 2-year period after cessation of treatment.

Records of patients who participated in the initial study were retrospectively reviewed 1 to 2 years after cessation of therapy to determine whether visual acuity gains were maintained.

Patients were divided according to treatment modalities. Results for the three patient groups were as follows: 50% of patients with optical correction alone maintained visual acuity improvement; 60% of patients with optical correction and occlusion maintained visual acuity gains; and 100% of patients with optical correction, occlusion, and vision therapy had maintained visual acuity gains. Of the three age groups--4 years to 6 years, 11 months; 7 years to 9 years, 11 months; and 10 to 14 years--the oldest age group maintained the highest percentage of visual acuity gains.

In our sample, at least 50% of the unilateral anisometropic amblyopic patients, who initially experienced visual acuity gains after treatment (regardless of treatment modality or age) maintained those acuity gains at 1- to 2-year followup. One hundred percent of those patients who received the vision therapy modality of treatment retained the improvement at followup-a statistically significant difference when compared with the other two groups.