%0 Journal Article
%T The burden of pure anisometropic amblyopia: a cross-sectional study on 2800 Iranians.
%A Akbarzadeh S
%A Vahabi R
%A Bazzazi N
%A Roshanaei G
%A Heydarian S
%A Fouladi DF
%J Int Ophthalmol
%V 38
%N 1
%D Feb 2018
%M 29236204
%F 2.029
%R 10.1007/s10792-017-0784-z
%X OBJECTIVE: To assess the proportion of pure anisometropic amblyopia in a sample Iranian (white) population.
METHODS: A total of 2800 consecutive individuals who presented at a referral eye clinic for any reason were examined for the presence of pure anisometropic amblyopia. Anisometropia was reported when a spherical equivalent refraction difference of at least 1.0 D with or without a cylinder refraction difference of at least 1.0 D was present between the two eyes. Amblyopia was defined as the best-corrected visual acuity of 20/30 or worse or a two-line interocular visual acuity difference between eyes that could not be attributed to any structural ocular pathology or visual pathway abnormality.
RESULTS: Subjects were 1528 females and 1272 males with a mean age of 30.25 ± 14.93 years (range, 5-65). Amblyopia was diagnosed in 192 cases (6.9%), significantly more frequent among females (7.9 vs. 5.7%, p = 0.02). Pure anisometropic amblyopia was present in 6.1% of the study population, significantly more common in patients with spherical hyperopic anisometropia (37.7%) compared to patients with spherical myopic anisometropia (21.3%), cylindrical myopic anisometropia (4.1%), and cylindrical hyperopic anisometropia (15%) (p < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Pure anisometropic amblyopia is a common finding in Caucasians seeking eye care, particularly when anisometropia is of spherical hyperopic subtype.