title: Visual evoked potential importance in the complex mechanism of amblyopia.
abstract: To compare the visual evoked potential (VEP) responses of amblyopic eyes with VEP responses of sound eyes in amblyopic children. A study of 65 amblyopic children with pattern-reversal VEPs elicited by checkerboard stimuli with large, medium and small checks. The children were classified into three groups: Group A, 22 children with anisometropic amblyopia; Group B, 16 children with exotropic strabismic amblyopia; and Group C, 27 children with esotropic strabismic amblyopia. Visual acuity (VA) was significantly worse in the amblyopic eye as compared to the sound eye. However, no statistically significant difference was found between the amblyopic and sound eye of amblyopic children in the three groups for VEP P1 amplitude and latencies for any check sizes. VEP is a very important tool in understanding the complex amblyopic mechanism. Although the sound eye has superior VA, the absence of differences in VEP P1 amplitudes and latencies demonstrate the functional abnormality of the eye considered 'good'. More studies are necessary to explain why the sound eye in amblyopic children cannot be considered completely normal. Special attention should therefore be paid to amblyopic treatment, as patching can have a negative effect on the sound eye.
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, "La Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy, halfeldregina@gmail.com.
authors: Regina
authors: R
authors: Halfeld Furtado de Mendonça
authors: Stefania
authors: S
authors: Abbruzzese
authors: Bruna
authors: B
authors: Bagolini
authors: Italo
authors: I
authors: Nofroni
authors: Eliana Lucia
authors: EL
authors: Ferreira
authors: James Vernon
authors: JV
authors: Odom
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000550:Amblyopia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D014792:Visual Acuity