Specialists of the Filatov Institute conducted a study aimed at identifying safer and more effective approaches to the treatment of amblyopia in children.

The study was authored by ophthalmologists Yu.V. Hrushko, N.M. Dehtiarova, and Professor V.I. Serdiuchenko.

Amblyopia of various forms — including refractive, anisometropic, disbinocular, and deprivation amblyopia — is among the most common ocular disorders in both children and adults and, in some cases, may lead to reduced working capacity and even disability. Traditionally, full occlusion of the better-seeing eye has been widely used for amblyopia treatment at home. However, clinical experience indicates that this approach may occasionally cause undesirable effects, including reduced visual acuity in the dominant eye, development of diplopia, or even the onset of squint in patients with previously normal ocular alignment.

One of the promising alternative approaches is the use of translucent occlusion therapy.

At the request of the Laboratory of Binocular Vision Disorders of the Filatov Institute, the Institute of Physics of Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University developed special translucent occluders with varying levels of light attenuation densities ranging from 10% to 90%.

Previous studies demonstrated that occluders with 10–50% attenuation have minimal impact on binocular vision; however, their effectiveness in improving visual acuity of the amblyopic eye was limited. Conversely, occluders with 90% attenuation showed greater therapeutic efficacy but, in some patients, negatively affected binocular vision.

Therefore, a new study was conducted using a translucent occluder with 70% attenuation density.

The aim of the study was to evaluate visual acuity, binocular vision, and stereoscopic vision in children with refractive errors during the use of an occluder of this density.

The study included 30 children aged 4 to 17 years with various refractive disorders, including myopia, hipermetropia and astigmatism.

In all children, visual acuity as well as binocular and stereoscopic vision were assessed. All patients demonstrated normal ocular alignment and preserved binocular vision.

The results showed that, with the use of a 70% attenuation occluder, visual acuity in the occluded eye ranged from 0.4 to 0.5, while binocular and stereoscopic vision were preserved in children.    Nearly all participants successfully completed spatial perception tests.

The study results indicate that, during the selection of translucent occlusion therapy for patients with unilateral amblyopia, it is important to consider the status of binocular vision and to individually adjust the level of light attenuation.

The findings support the use of 70% attenuation translucent occluders in pediatric ophthalmology practice, as they balance therapeutic efficacy with preservation of binocular visual function.