ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Amblyopia is the most common cause of monocular visual impairment in children. Even though occlusion therapy is the treatment of choice, the success rate has not been well achieved due to poor compliance. Other alternative treatments have been tried for a better outcome. OBJECTIVE: To report successful therapy for amblyopia using synoptophore. METHOD: A retrospective study of 25 amblyopic children enrolled in the amblyopic treatment program, from September 18, 1996 to October 14, 2002. The program included patching of the good eye, stimulating the amblyopic eye with synoptophore, and recording the visual acuity of both eyes each time. All children were regularly examined every 3 months by the same ophthalmologist. The compliance of each individual was reassessed and adjusted. At the end of the training program, visual acuity of the amblyopic and the good eyes were measured, plus the binocularity of both eyes were recorded as the main outcome measurement. RESULT: Final (best) visual acuities were between 20/20 and 20/30 for 19 cases of 21 cases (90%). Final best binocularity was maintained in 15 of 25 patients (60%), including 4 anisometropic patients (100%), 2 ptosis patients (50%), 4 pseudophakic patients (80%), 2 strabismic patients (40%), and 3 combined group patients (100%) CONCLUSION: By using synoptophore to stimulate the amblyopic eye, while occluding the good eye, it improved the level of vision to a certain acceptable degree. Thus, compliance of the treatment can be well achieved. However, the understanding and good cooperation of the parents were also a must for successful amblyopia therapy.