Disease or Syndrome
amblyopia
am·bly·o·pi·a [ am-blee-oh-pee-uh ]
Subclass of:
Vision Disorders;
Brain Diseases
Etymology:
Greek amblys = blunt or dim + opsis = vision
Also called:
Lazy eye
Definitions related to amblyopia:
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A nonspecific term referring to impaired vision. Major subcategories include stimulus deprivation-induced amblyopia and toxic amblyopia. Stimulus deprivation-induced amblyopia is a developmental disorder of the visual cortex. A discrepancy between visual information received by the visual cortex from each eye results in abnormal cortical development. STRABISMUS and REFRACTIVE ERRORS may cause this condition. Toxic amblyopia is a disorder of the OPTIC NERVE which is associated with ALCOHOLISM, tobacco SMOKING, and other toxins and as an adverse effect of the use of some medications.NLM Medical Subject HeadingsU.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
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Amblyopia, or "lazy eye," is the most common cause of visual impairment in children. It happens when an eye fails to work properly with the brain. The eye may look normal, but the brain favors the other eye. In some cases, it can affect both eyes. Causes include Strabismus - a disorder in which the two eyes don't line up in the same direction; Refractive error in an eye - when one eye cannot focus as well as the other, because of a problem with its shape. This includes nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.; Cataract - a clouding in the lens of the eye. It can be hard to diagnose amblyopia. It is often found during a routine vision exam. Treatment for amblyopia forces the child to use the eye with weaker vision. There are two common ways to do this. One is to have the child wear a patch over the good eye for several hours each day, over a number of weeks to months. The other is with eye drops that temporarily blur vision. Each day, the child gets a drop of a drug called atropine in the stronger eye. It is also sometimes necessary to treat the underlying cause. This could include glasses or surgery. NIH: National Eye InstituteMedlinePlusU.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
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Decreased vision that results from abnormal visual development.NCI ThesaurusU.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
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Impairment of vision without detectable organic lesion of the eye.CRISP ThesaurusNational Institutes of Health, 2006
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Reduced visual acuity that is uncorrectable by lenses in the absence of detectable anatomic defects in the eye or visual pathways.Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO)The Human Phenotype Ontology Project, 2021
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Amblyopia is functional reduction in visual acuity of an eye caused by disuse during visual development. Severe loss of vision can occur in the affected eye if amblyopia is not detected and treated before age 8. Diagnosis is based on detecting a difference in best corrected visual acuity between the two eyes that is not attributable to...Merck & Co., Inc., 2020
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Amblyopia refers to a decrease of vision, either unilaterally or bilaterally, for which no cause can be found by physical examination of the eye. The term functional amblyopia often is used to describe amblyopia, which is potentially reversible by occlusion therapy.WebMD, 2019
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Amblyopia is a reduction of best corrected visual acuity that cannot only and directly be attributed to the effect of a structural abnormality of the eye or the visual pathways. For the brain to learn to see with each eye, and to develop the capacity for binocular vision, each eye must have a clear and focused retinal image, and the 2...Athenahealth, Inc., 2019
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Amblyopia, reduction in vision in one or both eyes due to abnormal visual experience in early childhood, leading to functional changes in the visual centres of the brain. These changes result from eye-related problems that degrade or distort images received by the brain. The most common causes are...Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2020
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