Virtual Reality Game Playing in Amblyopia Therapy

Background: "Amblyopia is a neurodevelopmental disorder in both monocular and binocular functions and it extends even beyond the primary visual integration centers", therefore, amblyopia is not a "lazy eye" but it is a "lazy brain". Purpose: The investigators aimed to compare the visual outcome of occlusion therapy with virtual reality game playing as a new therapy on amblyopic children. Methods: This RCT was performed on 50 children with unilateral amblyopia ,4 to 10 years old. They were randomly divided to case and control (each= 25) groups. case group were trained binocularly using the virtual reality games through head set for one hour a day, 5 days in a week for 4 to 6 weeks. Controls occluded their non- amblyopic eyes, 2, 4 and 6 hours for mild (0.2 to 0.3 LogMAR), moderate (0.3 to 0.6 LogMAR) and severe (BCVA \< 0.6 LogMAR) amblyopia, respectively.