Risk factors for treatment failure and recurrence of anisometropic amblyopia.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with failed vision improvement and recurrence following occlusion therapy for anisometropic amblyopia in children aged 7-9 years.


METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 64 children aged 7-9 years who had been diagnosed as having anisometropic amblyopia and were treated with patching. Functional treatment failure was defined as final visual acuity in the amblyopic eye of worse than 20/32. Improvement of fewer than two logMAR lines was considered relative treatment failure. Recurrence was defined as the reduction of at least two logMAR levels of visual acuity after decreased or discontinued patching.


RESULTS
Functional and relative success rates were 51.6 and 62.5 %, respectively. The most important factor for functional treatment failure [adjusted odds ratio (OR) (95 % confidence interval, CI) 11.57 (1.4-95.74)] and the only risk factor for recurrence [adjusted OR (95 % CI) 3.04 (1.13-8.12)] were the same: high spherical equivalent (SE) of the amblyopic eye. A large interocular difference in the best-corrected visual acuity was found to be a risk factor for both functional and relative failure.


CONCLUSIONS
High SE of the amblyopic eye was the most influential risk factor for treatment failure and recurrence in compliant children aged 7-9 years.
Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Baskent University, Altunizade Mh., Kısıklı Cad., Oymacı Sok. No:7, 34662, Istanbul, Turkey. eceuzun@hotmail.com.
Ece Uzun
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1851-2341
EU
Kirandi
Department of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Faculty of Medicine, Baskent University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Serpil
S
Akar
Department of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Prof. Dr. N. Reşat Belger Beyoglu Training and Research Eye Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Birsen
B
Gokyigit
Department of Ophthalmology, Prof. Dr. N. Reşat Belger Beyoglu Training and Research Eye Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Funda Ebru Aksoy
FEA
Onmez
Department of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Faculty of Medicine, Baskent University, Ankara, Turkey.
Sibel
S
Oto
D000550:Amblyopia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012683:Sensory Deprivation; D013997:Time Factors; D017211:Treatment Failure; D014792:Visual Acuity
Amblyopia in children aged 7–9 years; Anisometropic amblyopia; Recurrence of amblyopia; Treatment failure of amblyopia