Abstract | OBJECTIVE: To determine whether visual acuity improvement with Bangerter filters is similar to improvement with patching as initial therapy for children with moderate amblyopia. DESIGN: Randomized, clinical trial. PARTICIPANTS: We enrolled 186 children, 3 to <10 years old, with moderate amblyopia (20/40-20/80). METHODS: Children were randomly assigned to receive either daily patching or to use a Bangerter filter on the spectacle lens in front of the fellow eye. Study visits were scheduled at 6, 12, 18, and 24 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Visual acuity in amblyopic eyes at 24 weeks. RESULTS: At 24 weeks, amblyopic eye improvement averaged 1.9 lines in the Bangerter group and 2.3 lines in the patching group (difference in mean visual acuities between groups adjusted for baseline acuity = 0.38 line). The upper limit of a 1-sided 95% confidence interval was 0.76 line, which slightly exceeded a prespecified noninferiority limit of <0.75 line. Similar percentages of subjects in each group improved > or =3 lines (Bangerter group 38% vs patching group 35%; P = 0.61) or had > or =20/25 amblyopic eye acuity (36% vs 31%, respectively; P = 0.86). There was a lower treatment burden in the Bangerter group as measured with the Amblyopia Treatment Index. With Bangerter filters, neither a fixation switch to the amblyopic eye nor induced blurring in the fellow eye to worse than that of the amblyopic eye was required for visual acuity improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Because the average difference in visual acuity improvement between Bangerter filters and patching was less than half a line, and there was lower burden of treatment on the child and family, Bangerter filter treatment is a reasonable option to consider for initial treatment of moderate amblyopia.
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Authors | Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group Writing Committee, Robert P Rutstein, Graham E Quinn, Elizabeth L Lazar, Roy W Beck, Dean J Bonsall, Susan A Cotter, Eric R Crouch, Jonathan M Holmes, Darren L Hoover, David A Leske, Ingryd J Lorenzana, Michael X Repka, Donny W Suh |
Journal | Ophthalmology
(Ophthalmology)
Vol. 117
Issue 5
Pg. 998-1004.e6
(May 2010)
ISSN: 1549-4713 [Electronic] United States |
PMID | 20163869
(Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article, Multicenter Study, Randomized Controlled Trial, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)
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Copyright | Copyright 2010 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
Topics |
- Amblyopia
(physiopathology, therapy)
- Child
- Child, Preschool
- Eyeglasses
- Female
- Humans
- Male
- Occlusive Dressings
- Sensory Deprivation
- Treatment Outcome
- Visual Acuity
(physiology)
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