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An update on pharmacological treatment options for amblyopia

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Abstract

Amblyopia is a common cause of visual impairment in children and young adults. The cornerstone in the management of this disorder is based on increasing visual stimulation of the amblyopic eye by occlusion, by administering atropine or by causing optical penalization of the dominant eye. All these treatment options have shown some limits in terms of efficacy, due to the suboptimal treatment adherence for the patients and the lack of long-term clinical outcomes. Moreover, although it is well known that clinical efficacy decreases with age, new evidence is suggesting that cortical plasticity can be induced also in older children. For these reasons, new treatment options are being studied, in order to extend the “treatment window” beyond the critical period also in older patients. In this review, we will discuss all the most promising novel pharmacological agents in the management of amblyopia.

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The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, University Eye Clinic of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

    Aldo Vagge, Lorenzo Ferro Desideri & Carlo Enrico Traverso

  2. Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DiNOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

    Aldo Vagge & Carlo Enrico Traverso

  3. Macula Onlus Foundation, Genoa, Italy

    Aldo Vagge, Lorenzo Ferro Desideri & Carlo Enrico Traverso

Authors
  1. Aldo Vagge
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  2. Lorenzo Ferro Desideri
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Correspondence to Lorenzo Ferro Desideri.

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Vagge, A., Ferro Desideri, L. & Traverso, C.E. An update on pharmacological treatment options for amblyopia. Int Ophthalmol 40, 3591–3597 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-020-01535-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-020-01535-w

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