Macular Thickness in Latvian Children with Refractive and Anisometropic Amblyopia

This work aimed to measure and compare macular thickness in Latvian children with refractive and anisometropic amblyopia and control group eyes using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and to define OCT as a diagnostic tool. In Latvia, it’s still a problem that amblyopia is diagnosed later when the part of the brain responsible for visual perception is already mature and cannot be treated completely. This is due to the lack of strict monitoring of mandatory eye examinations and the fact that assessing the posterior part of the eye (especially the macula) isn’t part of every child’s visit. A total of 85 patients aged 3–9 years (51.8% female subjects) were studied, of whom 20 had refractive amblyopia, 24 had anisometropic amblyopia, and 41 children had normal visual acuity in both eyes and were considered the control group. The macular thickness was measured by OCT in the centre (foveola), 1 mm ring (fovea), 3 mm and 6 mm rings and compared. Comparing the amblyopic eyes with healthy eyes of the same children, there were no statistically significant differences in macular thickness in the central part, 1 mm ring and 3 mm ring. In comparison, in the inferior part of the 6 mm ring, the macular thickness was lower in the amblyopic than in the healthy eyes. Comparison of macular thickness in the centre of 1 mm, 3 mm, and 6 mm ring amblyopic and control eyes showed no significant difference. Further studies with larger numbers of refractive and anisometropic amblyopia cases are recommended.