Opaque contact lens treatment for older children with amblyopia.

Purpose: To investigate the usefulness of daily-wear opaque contact lens treatment for older children with amblyopia.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of all children undergoing opaque contact lens therapy for amblyopia between 2000 and 2003 was performed. All patients were included except for those younger than 5 years of age, those undergoing maintenance treatment only, those lost to follow-up, or those unable to cooperate with Snellen visual acuity testing.

Results: Thirteen children were identified, and seven met the inclusion criteria. The seven patients had a mean age of 7.5 years (range, 5.7-8.7 years). The causes of amblyopia were anisometropia (five patients), cataract (one patient), and strabismus (one patient). For all seven patients, the mean logMAR improvement in visual acuity was 0.52 (range, 0.26-1.22). The average duration of opaque contact lens use was 9.3 months (range, 2-21 months). Compliance problems were encountered in three patients. No major complications occurred, but one patient had an episode of mild superficial punctate keratitis.

Conclusions: Daily-wear opaque contact lens treatment is a useful occlusion method for amblyopia treatment in older children with various practical and social impediments to skin patching. Meaningful improvement in visual acuity can be obtained, even in children older than 8 years of age.