[Does amblyopia therapy make sense in eyes with severe organic defects?].

BACKGROUND In eyes with severe organic defects the question arises if amblyopia therapy makes sense. PATIENTS AND METHODS Three children are presented in whom despite severe organic eye diseases amblyopia therapy was tried. The first child had a unilateral large macular scar secondary to retinoblastoma treatment, the second a unilateral severe optic nerve atrophy secondary to an orbital hemangioma, and the third a unilateral large optic nerve coloboma. RESULTS In the first case a reading visual acuity of 0.9 was achieved by occlusion therapy and in the second a reading visual acuity of 0.5. In the third case occlusion lead to alternation of the divergent strabismus (child too strongly retarded for reliable visual acuity measurements). CONCLUSIONS During the sensitive phase, amblyopia therapy is also indicated in eyes with severe organic defects since good visual acuities can be achieved.