Journal of American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus
Major ArticlesEarly screening for amblyogenic risk factors lowers the prevalence and severity of amblyopia*,**,*
Section snippets
Subjects and methods
In Israel, the Ministry of Health, through its child welfare clinics, provides infants with free health care including examinations and immunizations. All children born in Israel are registered at the child welfare clinic nearest their home and attend the clinic periodically for examinations, immunizations, and general supervision. As of 1968, an ophthalmic screening examination for amblyopia and amblyogenic risk factors, in infants between the ages of 1 and 2½ years, has been included as part
Results
At the selected schools in Haifa, 988 children were examined. Of those examined, 808 had attended the screening examination as infants. At the time of the infant screening, amblyopia or risk factors for amblyopia were suspected in 29 of 808 (3.6%) infants. All 29 infants were then referred for a more thorough confirmatory evaluation at the outpatient Ophthalmology Clinic of the Bnai-Zion Medical Center. Of the 29 infants referred for further evaluation, 18 (2.2% of the screened population) were
Discussion
Many cases of amblyopia escape detection without effective screening. All lines of evidence support the concept that there is a limited period of susceptibility (“sensitive period”) for the developing visual system.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 The plasticity and responsiveness of the developing visual system in infants makes this age group ideal for ophthalmologic screening. Early identification and treatment of risk factors for amblyopia enables prevention of amblyopia. Diagnosis and treatment of
Acknowledgements
We thank Monte A. Del Monte, MD, and Steven M. Archer, MD, for invaluable help in writing this article and for reviewing the statistical analysis of the patient data.
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Cited by (0)
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Supported in part by grant 1815791 from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
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Reprint requests: Maya Eibschitz, MD, The University of Michigan, Kellogg Eye Center, 1000 Wall St, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 (e-mail: [email protected]).
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J AAPOS 2000;4:194–9.