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Short-term effects of vision trainer rehabilitation in patients affected by anisometropic amblyopia: electrofunctional evaluation

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the short-term effects of the vision trainer rehabilitation technique on retinal and post-retinal function in young amblyopic patients outside the critical visual developmental period.

Methods

Twenty-one patients (mean age 12.2 ± 2.7 years, ranging from 9.1 to 18 years) affected by unilateral anisometropic amblyopia were studied, providing 21 amblyopic eyes (AE) and 21 sound eyes (SE). Thirty eyes from 15 age-similar normal subjects served as controls. All subjects underwent extensive ophthalmologic characterization to exclude any disease not related to amblyopia. All AE were subjected to rehabilitation sessions performed by the Retimax vision trainer (VT) program. The protocol consisted of 2 sessions per week, each lasting 10 min, for 10 consecutive weeks. Before and after the rehabilitation, electrophysiological [pattern electroretinogram (PERG) and visual evoked potential (VEP)] and psychophysical [best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and microperimetry] data were collected from AE and SE.

Results

When comparing baseline data with those collected at the end of the study, PERG P50-N95 amplitude and BCVA values from AE had improved significantly by the end of the study (p < 0.05). Our electrophysiological findings also showed some abnormalities in SE when the data were compared to control eyes. We found a significant correlation (p < 0.05) between PERG amplitude and VEP implicit time in SE after visual rehabilitation.

Conclusions

Short-term visual rehabilitation performed by the VT program ameliorated the electrofunctional and psychophysical parameters of vision in children outside the critical developmental period, thus indicating that VT might be a potential adjuvant therapy of traditional patching treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GI.MA Centro di Diagnostica E Terapia Oculare, Via Mergellina, 44, 80122, Naples, Italy

    Paolo Esposito Veneruso, Giulia Magli & Adriano Magli

  2. Fondazione G.B. Bietti - IRCCS, Rome, Italy

    Lucia Ziccardi

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, Catholic University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Benedetto Falsini

  4. Department of Pediatric Ophthalmology, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy

    Adriano Magli

Authors
  1. Paolo Esposito Veneruso
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  2. Lucia Ziccardi
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  3. Giulia Magli
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  4. Benedetto Falsini
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  5. Adriano Magli
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Correspondence to Adriano Magli.

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Esposito Veneruso, P., Ziccardi, L., Magli, G. et al. Short-term effects of vision trainer rehabilitation in patients affected by anisometropic amblyopia: electrofunctional evaluation. Doc Ophthalmol 129, 177–189 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10633-014-9462-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10633-014-9462-x

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