title: Comparison of the efficacies of patching and penalization therapies for the treatment of amblyopia patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the efficacies of patching and penalization therapies for the treatment of amblyopia patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The records of 64 eyes of 50 patients 7 to 16y of age who had presented to our clinics with a diagnosis of amblyopia, were evaluated retrospectively. Forty eyes of 26 patients who had received patching therapy and 24 eyes of 24 patients who had received penalization therapy included in this study. The latencies and amplitudes of visual evoked potential (VEP) records and best corrected visual acuities (BCVA) of these two groups were compared before and six months after the treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In both patching and the penalization groups, the visual acuities increased significantly following the treatments (P<0.05). The latency measurements of the P100 wave obtained at 1.0°, 15 arc min. Patterns of both groups significantly decreased following the 6-months-treatment. However, the amplitude measurements increased (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The patching and the penalization methods, which are the main methods used in the treatment of amblyopia, were also effective over the age of 7y, which has been accepted as the critical age for the treatment of amblyopia.
authors: Eye Clinic, Sinop Government Hospital, Sinop 57000, Turkey.
authors: Cemalettin
authors: C
authors: Cabi
authors: Eye Clinic, Semdinli Government Hospital, Hakkari 30800, Turkey.
authors: Isil Bahar
authors: IB
authors: Sayman Muslubas
authors: Eye Clinic, Dr Lutfi Kİrdar Kartal Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul 34600, Turkey.
authors: Ayse Yesim
authors: AY
authors: Aydin Oral
authors: Eye Clinic, Kars Governmet Hospital, Kars 36000, Turkey.
authors: Metin
authors: M
authors: Dastan
keywords: amblyopia; patching therapies; penalization therapies; visual evoked potential