Evaluation of the Effects of the Occlu-Pad for the Management of Anisometropic Amblyopia in Children

ABSTRACT

Purpose: In recent years, amblyopia treatment device that can be used with both eyes open have been reported. The Occlu-pad is a device that can present images of tablet terminals to one eye only under binocular open conditions. Till date, no study has reported the effectiveness of Occlu-pad training for anisometropic amblyopia in a series of cases. In the present study, we evaluated the effectiveness of the Occlu-pad for the management of anisometropic amblyopia without the use of occlusion therapy (eyepatch).

Materials and Methods: We implemented Occlu-pad training for 22 children (mean age ± standard deviation: 4.7 ± 1.2 years) with anisometropic amblyopia. The visual acuity before treatment initiation was 0.25 ± 0.08. The difference in refraction between the healthy and amblyopic eyes was 3.10 ± 0.58 D.

Results: The visual acuity at 3 months and 6 months after training initiation was 0.06 ± 0.09 and −0.04 ± 0.07, respectively; this indicates a significant improvement in vision. The compliance rates for Occlu-pad use during 0 − 3 months and 4 − 6 months after training initiation were 88.6% ± 18.9% and 73.2% ± 18.9%; these rates decreased significantly with time.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the Occlu-pad is an effective tool for the management of anisometropic amblyopia in children.

KEYWORDS:

• Amblyopia
• Occlu-pad
• visual acuity
• treatment outcomes

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.