Polaroid Photoscreening for Amblyogenic Factors

ABSTRACT

We investigate the effect of a new photoscreening camera designed to detect amblyogenic factors including strabismus, asymmetric and abnormal refractive errors and media opacities. The photoscreener uses eccentric photorefraction principles and provides two meridian photographs of the retinal reflex. Pass/fail screening data from photograph of 58 nondilated children, determined by two masked observers, were compared with data from complete ophthalmologic examinations. Photoscreener had a sensitivity rate of 92.0%, a specificity rate of 72.2%, a positive predictive value of 94.8%, a negative predictive value of 61.9% and overall agreement rate of 90.5%. The new two-flash photoscreenig camera, which uses high-speed polaroid film, is an accurate and reliable method of detecting amblyogenic factors in undilated children, and the camera promise as a useful mass screening tool.