title: A one-year review of amblyopia treatment for literate patients at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report the characteristics and the success rate of treatment of newly diagnosed amblyopia at Department of Ophthalmology, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital between January 2007 and December 2007.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors performed retrospective chart reviews of 16 newly diagnosed amblyopic literate patients. Successful treatment was defined as having best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) > or = 3 Snellen lines improvement or > or = 20/30 in the amblyopic eye.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 16 patients, the mean age was 8.62 +/- 3.07 years old. The causes o amblyopia were 12 refractive error (75%), three strabismus (18.75%), and one visual deprivation (6.25%). The mean BCVA, before treatment, of amblyopic eyes was 0.74 +/- 0.4 LogMAR and after treatment, BCVA was 0.41 +/- 0.33 LogMAR. Seven (43.75%) patients were treated successfully whereas nine (56.25%) patients were not. No significant association was found between presenting age (p-value 0.92) (95% CI -3.59 to 3.72), cause of amblyopia (p-value 0.22) (95% CI -0.74 to 0.07), degree of refractive error (p-value 0.71) (95% CI -8.27 to 0.68) and treatment outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Refractive amblyopia was the major cause of amblyopia in our clinic. Combined refractive correction and patching were the effective treatments of choice. Early diagnosis and prompt initiation of treatments will help achieve the optimal therapeutic outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, Thailand. bharkbhum@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Bharkbhum
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Khambhiphant
authors.forename: Wisara
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Srisuwanwattana
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000550:Amblyopia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013785:Thailand; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity