The role and place of electrophysiological studies in the diagnosis of amblyopia in children

Purpose. To conduct a comparative analysis of electroretinography results and indicators of visual evoked potentials in children with anisometropic amblyopia, to determine the relationship of obtained data with the presence or absence of stereovision. Material and methods. 25 children with amblyopia were divided into 2 groups: group 1 - with impaired stereovision (n = 12, age 8.3 ± 2.0 years), group 2 - without impaired stereovision (n = 13, age 10.3 ± 2.0 years). The control group consisted of 11 healthy children aged 8.4 ± 2.0 years. Results. In patients of group 1: visual acuity of the amblyopic eye was 0.32 ± 0.24, the anisometropia degree was 4.34 ± 2.2D, a moderate increase in the latency of P100 and N95 (p = 0.03) for a small stimulus (p = 0.01), a decrease in the amplitude of P100 by almost 2 times (p = 0.01) compared with the data of group 2 and the control group. In 2 cases signs of interocular and interhemispheric asymmetry were revealed. In patients of group 2: visual acuity reduced to 0.62 ± 0.28, the anisometropia degree was 2.65 ± 2.41D, no significant changes in electrophysiological parameters were found. Conclusion. Anisometropic amblyopia, in addition to a decrease in visual acuity in the diseased eye, is characterized by changes in the reception and neuroprovision processes in both sick and healthy eyes, especially in cases of lack of stereo perception, which is a key characteristic of human binocular functions.