title: Functional visual acuity in patients with successfully treated amblyopia: a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to use conventional visual acuity measurements to quantify the functional visual acuity (FVA) in eyes with successfully treated amblyopia, and to compare the findings with those for contralateral normal eyes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nineteen patients (7 boys, 12 girls; age 7.5 ± 2.2 years) with successfully treated unilateral amblyopia and the same conventional decimal visual acuity in both eyes (better than 1.0) were enrolled. FVA, the visual maintenance ratio (VMR), maximum and minimum visual acuity, and the average response time were recorded for both eyes of all patients using an FVA measurement system. The differences in FVA values between eyes were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean LogMAR FVA scores, VMR (p < 0.001 for both), and the LogMAR maximum (p < 0.005) and minimum visual acuity (p < 0.001) were significantly poorer for the eyes with treated amblyopia than for the contralateral normal eyes. There was no significant difference in the average response time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that FVA and VMR were poorer for eyes with treated amblyopia than for normal eyes, even though the treatment for amblyopia was considered successful on the basis of conventional visual acuity measurements. These results suggest that visual function is impaired in eyes with amblyopia, regardless of treatment success, and that FVA measurements can provide highly valuable diagnosis and treatment information that is not readily provided by conventional visual acuity measurements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, 305-8575. hoshisujin@md.tsukuba.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Sujin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hoshi
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, 305-8575.
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hiraoka
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, 305-8575.
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kotsuka
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, 305-8575.
authors.forename: Yumiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, 305-8575.
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Izumida
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, 305-8575.
authors.forename: Atsuko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, 305-8575.
authors.forename: Yuta
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, 305-8575.
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, 305-8575.
authors.forename: Tetsuro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oshika
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000550:Amblyopia / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005139:Eyeglasses; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014787:Vision Tests / Q000379:methods; D014792:Visual Acuity
keywords: Amblyopia; Quality of vision; Visual acuity; Visual function