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Effectiveness of citicoline in pediatric patients with refractive amblyopia in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia
Rozalina Loebis1, Bambang Subakti Zulkarnain2, Fitri Amalia Siswanto3
1Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia.
Insights
Citicoline effectively improved vision in children with refractive amblyopia. This adjuvant therapy showed significant results in mild to moderate cases, supporting its use in clinical practice.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Pediatric Medicine
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Amblyopia, or 'lazy eye', is reduced visual acuity from poor early visual stimulation.
- Citicoline is an established treatment for improving visual acuity in amblyopic eyes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of citicoline as an adjuvant therapy for pediatric refractive amblyopia.
- To assess citicoline's effectiveness in routine ophthalmology practice.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective-descriptive study.
- Data collected from medical records at Surabaya Eye Clinic (January 2018 - December 2019).
- Included 34 eyes of pediatric patients with refractive amblyopia.
Main Results:
- Citicoline demonstrated effectiveness in mild and moderate amblyopia cases.
- Therapy durations of 3 and 6 months showed statistically significant improvements (p<0.05).
- Clinically significant improvements were noted even in cases without statistical significance, possibly due to small sample sizes.
Conclusions:
- Citicoline therapy provides clinically and statistically significant improvements for pediatric patients with refractive amblyopia.
- Supports citicoline as a valuable adjuvant treatment option.
Objectives:
Amblyopia is a decrease of visual acuity that cannot be attributed to any structural abnormality of the eye or visual system, causing a partial or complete loss of vision due to inadequate stimulation in early life. Citicoline has been reported to improve visual acuity in amblyopic eyes as adjuvant treatment. This study was aimed to determine the effectiveness of citicoline in pediatric patients with refractive amblyopia in ophthalmology daily practices.
Methods:
This was a retrospective-descriptive study with a time limited sampling method. This study was conducted at Surabaya Eye Clinic, East Java, Indonesia, by reviewing medical records for the period of January 2018 to December 2019.
Results:
A total of 34 eyes were included in the study with the majority aged five years (41.2%) and six years (35.3%). The severity of amblyopia varied among patients, 21 eyes (61.76%) had mild amblyopia, seven eyes (20.59%) had moderate amblyopia, and two eyes (5.88%) had severe amblyopia. The duration of given therapy also varied, 18 eyes (52.94%) were given 3 months therapy, two eyes were given 4 months therapy, 12 eyes were given 6 months therapy, and two eyes were given 8 months therapy. Citicoline was found effective in mild and moderate amblyopia and for the duration of 3 and 6 months (p<0.05). In others group who did not showed statistically significant improvement was due to inadequate samples but clinically significant improvement was noted.
Conclusions:
Citicoline therapy resulted in a clinically and statistically improvement in refractive amblyopia patients.
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