title: Eye patching as a treatment for amblyopia in children aged 10-16 years.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effects of full-time patching regimen on the treatment of amblyopia in children aged 10-16 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-seven patients with a mean age of 12.09 ± 1.65 years were included in this study. All of the patients received eye patching for the entire day, 6 days a week, during the first 3 months. The patients who achieved visual acuity of 0.00 logMAR at the third month were provided with additional patching treatment (4-6 h/day). On the other hand, the patients who showed no change in their visual acuity or an increase of less than 0.00 logMAR at the third month had 3 more months of eye patching for the entire day, 6 days a week.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prior to treatment, the best mean visual acuity of the amblyopic eyes was 0.48 ± 0.25 (range 1.00-0.15) logMAR. After follow-up, the visual acuity of the amblyopic eyes was 0.20 ± 0.22 (range 1.00-0.00) logMAR. Thus, visual acuity in the amblyopic eyes improved by 0.2 log unit or more in 38 of 47 patients (81%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present results show that patching in older children with amblyopia improves visual acuity with no serious complications. The use of patching in children to improve amblyopia seems promising.
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cukurova University, Seyhan Park Evleri, M blok, 2/3 Yuregir, 01370, Adana, Turkey. elif.erdem.1979@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Elif
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Erdem
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gül Yılmaz
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Çınar
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Somer
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Necati
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayse
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Burcu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Firdevs
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Örnek
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000550:Amblyopia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D012683:Sensory Deprivation; D013997:Time Factors; D014785:Vision, Ocular; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology