Amblyopia Causes Slow Reading in Children

"Children with amblyopia, commonly known as 'lazy eye,' may have impaired ocular motor function," reports Medical News Today. "This can result in difficulties in activities for which sequential eye movements are important, such as reading. A new study conducted at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest determined that children with amblyopia read more slowly than children with normal vision or with strabismus alone. Their findings are published in the Journal of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS)." Read more.

New Scanner Helps Diagnose Amblyopia and Strabismus

A new clinical study published in in JAMA Ophthalmology has identified REBIScan's Pediatric Vision Scanner (PVS) as superior approach to testing preschool children for amblyopia and strabismus. Study author Reed Jost, senior author Dr. Eileen Birch, and their colleagues from the Retina Foundation of the Southwest tested 300 children using the PVS (and also using Welch Allyn's SureSight autorefractor), and then examined the children individually. In an independent study supported by the Thrasher Research Fund, they found that the PVS significantly outperformed the SureSight in sensitivity, identifying 97% of children affected by the targeted conditions, and made significantly fewer unnecessary referrals of healthy children (better specificity). Read more.

New Surgery Fixes Strabismus

"People with strabismus (misalignment and limited movement of one or more eyes) are often teased about their crossed-eye appearance; those with more complex, disfiguring strabismus can become socially isolated and develop neck and back problems from having to turn their head to see properly," Medical News Today reminds readers. "While surgery can correct eye position, it may require operation on several muscles, causing lengthy recovery, and sometimes overcompensates for the problem, requiring repeat operations. A single, simplified procedure adopted at Children's Hospital Boston has good results, researchers report, and allows for eye position to be fine-tuned in the recovery room or up to a week later, often avoiding re-operation." Read more. President Lincoln had strabismus.

Is 3D Eyewear Dangerous? AAO Says...

MedicalNewsToday reports the following summary of a statement by the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) regarding the use of 3D eyewear:

At this time there are no conclusive studies on the short- and/or long-term effects of 3-D digital products on eye and visual development, health, or function in children, nor are there persuasive, conclusive theories on how 3-D digital products could cause damage in children with healthy eyes. The development of normal 3-D vision in children is stimulated as they use their eyes in day-to-day social and natural environments, and this development is largely complete by age three years.

The AAO did issue precautions about children with amblyopia, strabismus, and focus inhibiting conditions.