A 3-year-old child has a dense unilateral cataract detected at birth that was surgically removed at 6 weeks. Following surgery with contact lens correction, patching of the fellow eye is prescribed. What is the minimum daily patching duration recommended for treatment of deprivation amblyopia in this age group?
- A 1 hour per day
- B 2 hours per day
- C 6 hours per day ✓
- D Full-time (all waking hours)
Correct answer: C. 6 hours per day
Explanation
For dense deprivation amblyopia from unilateral cataract, patching of the sound eye is required. Guidelines from the Infant Aphakia Treatment Study (IATS) and standard practice recommend patching the fellow eye for a minimum of 50% of waking hours, approximately 6 hours daily in the critical period. Full-time patching is reserved for the most severe cases and monitored closely as patching the good eye may induce reverse amblyopia. Compliance and optical correction with aphakic contact lens are equally critical.
Reference: Khurana Comprehensive Ophthalmology, 7th ed.
High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP
Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.