Disease: Lazy eye (amblyopia)

    Overview

    Lazy eye (amblyopia) is reduced vision in one eye caused by abnormal visual development early in life. The weaker — or lazy — eye often wanders inward or outward.

    Amblyopia generally develops from birth up to age 7 years. It is the leading cause of decreased vision in one eye among children. Rarely, lazy eye affects both eyes.

    Early diagnosis and treatment can help prevent long-term problems with your child's vision. Lazy eye can usually be corrected with glasses or contact lenses, or eye patches. Sometimes surgery is required.

    Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com

    Symptoms

    Signs and symptoms of lazy eye include:

    • An eye that wanders inward or outward
    • Eyes that appear to not work together
    • Poor depth perception
    • Squinting or shutting an eye
    • Head tilting
    • Abnormal results of vision screening tests

    Sometimes lazy eye is not evident without an eye exam.

    When to see a doctor

    See your child's doctor if you notice his or her eye wandering at any time after the first few weeks of life. A vision check is especially important if there's a family history of crossed eyes, childhood cataracts or other eye conditions.

    For all children, a complete eye exam is recommended between ages 3 and 5.

    Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com

    Causes

    Lazy eye develops because of abnormal visual experience early in life that changes the nerve pathways between a thin layer of tissue (retina) at the back of the eye and the brain. The weaker eye receives fewer visual signals. Eventually, the ability of the eyes to work together decreases, and the brain suppresses or ignores input from the weaker eye.

    Anything that blurs a child's vision or causes the eyes to cross or turn out may result in lazy eye. Common causes of the condition include:

    • Muscle imbalance (strabismus). The most common cause of lazy eye is an imbalance in the muscles that position the eyes. This imbalance can cause the eyes to cross in or turn out, and prevents them from tracking together in a coordinated way.
    • Difference in sharpness of vision between the eyes (refractive anisometropia). A significant difference between the prescriptions in each eye — often due to farsightedness but sometimes to nearsightedness or an imperfection on the surface of the eye called astigmatism — can result in lazy eye. Glasses or contact lenses are typically used to correct these refractive problems. In some children lazy eye is caused by a combination of strabismus and refractive problems.
    • Deprivation. Any problem with one eye — such as a cloudy area in the lens (cataract) — can deprive a child of clear vision in that eye. Deprivation amblyopia in infancy requires urgent treatment to prevent permanent vision loss. Deprivation amblyopia often results in the most severe amblyopia.

    Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com

    Diagnosis

    Your doctor will conduct a thorough eye exam, checking for eye health, a wandering eye, a difference in vision between the eyes or poor vision in both eyes. Eyedrops are generally used to dilate the eyes. The eyedrops cause blurred vision that lasts for several hours or a day.

    The method used to test vision depends on your child's age and stage of development:

    • Preverbal children. A lighted magnifying device can be used to detect cataracts. Other tests can assess an infant or toddler's ability to fixate his or her gaze and to follow a moving object.
    • Children ages 3 and older. Tests using pictures or letters can assess the child's vision. Each eye is patched in turn to test the other.

    Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com

    Complications

    Untreated, lazy eye can cause permanent vision loss. Lazy eye is the cause of permanent vision loss in 2.9 percent of adults.

    Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com

    Risk factors

    Factors associated with an increased risk of lazy eye include:

    • Premature birth
    • Small size at birth
    • Family history of lazy eye
    • Developmental disabilities

    Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com

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