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Acupuncture combined with Tuina therapy for the treatment of anisometropic amblyopia and track visual cortex
Xinyu Zhao1, Ailing Bi2,3, Xiuzhen Lu2,3
1Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, Shandong Province, P.R. China.
Insights
This case study shows that acupuncture and Tuina therapy improved vision in a child with amblyopia (lazy eye) resistant to standard treatments. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) monitored visual cortex changes during this novel therapy.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Neuroscience
- Integrative Medicine
Background:
- Amblyopia, a common pediatric vision disorder, requires early intervention.
- Conventional treatments like occlusion therapy may not be effective for all children.
- This case involves a 6-year-old boy with anisometropic amblyopia refractory to 10 months of occlusion therapy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture combined with Tuina therapy for anisometropic amblyopia.
- To explore the use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in monitoring treatment response in the visual cortex.
Main Methods:
- A single case of a 6-year-old boy with anisometropic amblyopia was treated with acupuncture and Tuina therapy.
- The patient had previously undergone conventional optical correction and occlusion therapy without significant improvement.
- Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to assess visual cortex activation.
Main Results:
- After 10 sessions of acupuncture and Tuina therapy, the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of the amblyopic eye improved by 0.4 LogMAR (from 0.6 to 0.2 LogMAR).
- The study demonstrated a positive response to the integrated Chinese medicine approach in a treatment-resistant case.
Conclusions:
- Acupuncture combined with Tuina therapy shows promise as an alternative treatment for amblyopia, particularly for patients unresponsive to conventional methods.
- fNIRS can be a valuable tool for objectively monitoring neuroplasticity and treatment effectiveness in the visual cortex.
- Further research with larger, controlled studies is needed to validate these findings.
Rationale:
Amblyopia is a common pediatric neurodevelopmental disorder of vision, necessitating early intervention to improve visual acuity. We report a case of a child with anisometropic amblyopic whose best corrected visual acuity of the right eye (OD, amblyopic eye) remained stable at 0.6 LogMAR despite 10 months of conventional occlusion therapy. We further evaluated the therapy's efficacy using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to monitor visual cortex activation.
Patient Concerns:
A 6-year-old boy with anisometropic amblyopia came to seek Chinese medicine treatment in June 2020. Before 2020, the child had undergone 2 years of binocular optical correction and relatively good occlusion treatment. After a 10-month period of visual plateau (BCVA stable at 0.6 LogMAR) despite conventional treatment, we tried the treatment of acupuncture combined with Tuina therapy.
Diagnoses:
A case of anisometropic amblyopia refractory to conventional occlusion therapy.
Interventions:
The patient received acupuncture combined with Tuina therapy (Chinese therapeutic massage).
Outcomes:
After 10 sessions of acupuncture combined with Tuina therapy, the OD best corrected visual acuity improved to 0.2 LogMAR, representing a 0.4 LogMAR gain.
Lessons:
Acupuncture combined with Tuina therapy was associated with improved visual acuity in this single-case of amblyopia, suggesting potential as a new treatment approach for those who exhibit poor compliance or inadequate response to traditional therapies. However, as a case report, these findings are preliminary and require validation in larger controlled studies. Additionally, the study proposes that fNIRS can serve as a convenient and effective technique for monitoring the impact of acupuncture and Tuina on the visual cortex, providing an evaluation metric for future integrated eye-brain treatments.
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