CHANGES IN MACULAR THICKNESS AFTER PART TIME OCCLUSION IN CHILDREN WITH AMBLYOPIA USING OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY (OCT)

Background: Amblyopia is the commonest childhood vision disorder, most children with amblyopia require refractive correction as well as patching; Evidences for direct retinal changes in amblyopic eyes are still inconclusive and controversial. Objectives: To detect changes in the macula by macular Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) after part time occlusion in children with amblyopia. Patients and Methods: Arandomised non controlled study included forty child suffering amblyopia in this study. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA: 0.1- 0.5) were recruited and treated with refractive correction, and part time occlusion (6 hours/day) for one week per year. BCVA and macular thickness were measured by OCT before and after treatment. Factorial repeated-measures analysis of variance was performed to determine the macular thickness in amblyopic eyes changed after amblyopia treatment. Results: The mean age of children was 8.57±2.52 years. There was a statistically significant difference in the central macular thickness pre & post amblyopia treatment. There was no statistically significant difference for the other macular thickness parameters except for superior quadrant of parapovea where the difference was significantly significant. Conclusion: The mean of central macular thickness and superior quadrant of parapovea increased after part time occlusion treatment compared to pretreatment. No significant difference in average macular thickness, (nasal, temporal, inferior) parapovea, perifovea, retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and ganglion cell layer (GCL) before and after treatment.