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Clinical Trial
. 2003 Nov;110(11):2075-87.
doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2003.08.001.

A randomized trial of prescribed patching regimens for treatment of severe amblyopia in children

Jonathan M Holmes, Raymond T Kraker, Roy W Beck, Eileen E Birch, Susan A Cotter, Donald F Everett, Richard W Hertle, Graham E Quinn, Michael X Repka, Mitchell M Scheiman, David K Wallace; Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group
Clinical Trial

A randomized trial of prescribed patching regimens for treatment of severe amblyopia in children

Jonathan M Holmes et al. Ophthalmology. 2003 Nov.

Abstract

Objective: To compare full-time patching (all hours or all but 1 hour per day) to 6 hours of patching per day, as prescribed treatments for severe amblyopia in children younger than 7 years.

Design: Prospective, randomized multicenter clinical trial (32 sites).

Participants: One hundred seventy-five children younger than 7 years with amblyopia in the range of 20/100 to 20/400.

Intervention: Randomization either to full-time patching or to 6 hours of patching per day, each combined with at least 1 hour of near-visual activities during patching.

Main outcome measure: Visual acuity in the amblyopic eye after 4 months.

Results: Visual acuity in the amblyopic eye improved a similar amount in both groups. The improvement in the amblyopic eye acuity from baseline to 4 months averaged 4.8 lines in the 6-hour group and 4.7 lines in the full-time group (P = 0.45).

Conclusion: Six hours of prescribed daily patching produces an improvement in visual acuity that is of similar magnitude to the improvement produced by prescribed full-time patching in treating severe amblyopia in children 3 to less than 7 years of age.

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Comment in

  • Patching regimens.
    von Noorden GK, Campos EC. von Noorden GK, et al. Ophthalmology. 2004 May;111(5):1063; author reply 1064-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2004.03.003. Ophthalmology. 2004. PMID: 15121389 No abstract available.
  • Patching regimens.
    Greenberg MF. Greenberg MF. Ophthalmology. 2004 May;111(5):1063-4; author reply 1064-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2004.03.004. Ophthalmology. 2004. PMID: 15121390 No abstract available.
  • Patching regimens for amblyopia.
    Kushner BJ. Kushner BJ. Ophthalmology. 2005 Apr;112(4):736-7; author reply 737. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2004.10.006. Ophthalmology. 2005. PMID: 15808278 No abstract available.

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