Analysis of amblyopia in ametropic patients in rural India

Introduction: Amblyopia means dimness of vision where the finding of diminished vision in this condition is not associated with any structural defect in the visual pathway, and it cannot be corrected with refractive correction. It results from inadequate visual experience due to variety of conditions for example: Ametropia, Anisometropea. Strabismus; or from conditions causing monocular visual deprivation in early critical period of life. Aims and Objective: To analyse prevalence of amblyopia in ametropic patients in rural south India. Methodology: This was prospective study of children and young adult presenting in our outpatient department during the year 2016. 59 such cases detected to have amblyopia were included in the study. The selection criteria was difference of two lines of visual acuity between the two eyes or Snellen's Vision Chart visual acuity poorer than 6/9 in any eye not recovering with spectacles correction. Result: Majority of the amblyopic patients were having Hyperopia & Anisohyperopia (46.03%) or Hyperopic astigmatism (16.94%). This was followed by Myopic astigmatism (15.25%), Myopia & Anisomyopia (13.55%) and Mixed Astigmatism (8.47%). Majority of the patients were Males 55.93% followed by Females 44.06%. It was observed that majority of the patients were having Monocular amblyopia (81.35%) and 18.64% had Binocular Amblyopia. Conclusion: The Amblyopia is associated with the ametropia so early detection of refractive errors and corrections should be prompt everywhere since from the young age.