Abstract
Purpose:
To report a clinically observed phenomenon of diminished manifestations of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and / or age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in fellow eyes with amblyopia.
Methods:
We reviewed fifteen cases from our institution of concurrent diagnoses of DR and/or AMD along with amblyopia from childhood in one eye. Fundus photos and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were analyzed to compare the severity of diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration between the non-amblyopic eye and the amblyopic eye.
Results:
In twelve of the fifteen patients, the amblyopic eye had markedly diminished manifestations of diabetic retinopathy (dot blot hemorrhages and microaneurysms) and/or age-related macular degeneration (drusen, neovascularization) as compared with the fellow non-amblyopic eye. In two patients, the manifestations in the amblyopic eye were worse, and in one patient, the manifestations were approximately equal. The severity of amblyopia appeared to correlate with reductions in manifestations of both diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration.
Conclusions:
Eyes affected by amblyopia may exhibit a milder degree of diabetic retinopathy or age-related macular degeneration compared with the fellow non-amblyopic eye in the same patient. This may be related to decreased metabolic activity in the amblyopic eye. This observational case series provides the basis for a larger planned case review. Measures of global retinal blood flow (via fluorescein angiography and retinal oximeter) are planned to explore causality.
Keywords: 412 age-related macular degeneration •
499 diabetic retinopathy •
417 amblyopia