Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 17, 2026
Comparison of Three Clinical Stereoscopic Methods for Measuring Binocular Visual Function During Amblyopic Treatment in Unilateral Amblyopia
Published on: September 27, 2024
The burden of pure anisometropic amblyopia: a cross-sectional study on 2800 Iranians
Siamak Akbarzadeh1, Reihaneh Vahabi1, Nooshin Bazzazi2,3
1Department of Ophthalmology, Farshchian Teaching Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
Purpose:
To assess the proportion of pure anisometropic amblyopia in a sample Iranian (white) population.
Methods:
A total of 2800 consecutive individuals who presented at a referral eye clinic for any reason were examined for the presence of pure anisometropic amblyopia. Anisometropia was reported when a spherical equivalent refraction difference of at least 1.0 D with or without a cylinder refraction difference of at least 1.0 D was present between the two eyes. Amblyopia was defined as the best-corrected visual acuity of 20/30 or worse or a two-line interocular visual acuity difference between eyes that could not be attributed to any structural ocular pathology or visual pathway abnormality.
Results:
Subjects were 1528 females and 1272 males with a mean age of 30.25 ± 14.93 years (range, 5-65). Amblyopia was diagnosed in 192 cases (6.9%), significantly more frequent among females (7.9 vs. 5.7%, p = 0.02). Pure anisometropic amblyopia was present in 6.1% of the study population, significantly more common in patients with spherical hyperopic anisometropia (37.7%) compared to patients with spherical myopic anisometropia (21.3%), cylindrical myopic anisometropia (4.1%), and cylindrical hyperopic anisometropia (15%) (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
Pure anisometropic amblyopia is a common finding in Caucasians seeking eye care, particularly when anisometropia is of spherical hyperopic subtype.
