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  • Can I improve my amblyopia after infant cataract surgery?


    Question:

    I had a cataract removed as an infant, which was replaced with a monofocal IOL. At 23, that eye remains slightly amblyopic.

    If adults can improve their amblyopia after damaging their good eye, can this help me? And what would be the consequences of using an intentionally wrong prescription (contacts or glasses) to cloud the good eye?  Would there potentially be any negative consequences of this?


    Answer:

    It is so nice to hear of your good visual outcome from cataract surgery in infancy. At 23 years of age it would be unusual for any treatment to improve the vision further. Vision researchers continue to work on developing ways to reopen vision development.

    On the other part of your question I do not believe there would be any harm to your good eye from some blur or patching but there is little good evidence that this would help your amblyopic eye (or an eye that failed to develop normal vision during childhood). It is true that if a patient with an amblyopic eye has severe or total vision loss in their “good” eye, then vision in the amblyopic eye may improve somewhat, but this rarely would result in “normal” vision. 



    Amblyopia, Strabismus and Lazy Eye Cataracts