It is generally assumed that early diagnosis and therapy improve the prognosis of amblyopia, and screening of pre-school children for this disease has therefore been advised by many authors (Savitz, Reed, and Valadian, I964; Press and Austin, I968; Gansner, I968). The best age for screening has not yet been established, probably because of the diagnostic difficulties encountered in examining very young children.This report presents data on the incidence of amblyopia in an almost unselected population of 5,329 children between the ages of ij and 6 years. The relation of the age at which amblyopia was diagnosed to therapeutic results was also studied in an attempt to clarify some of the problems related to the choice of the most suitable screening age for pre-school children. MethodsA detailed description of the screened population subdivided into five age groups, the screening tests used, and the procedures have already been reported (Oliver and Nawratzki, 197I). The diagnostic criteria for amblyopia in this study were: (ii) Unilateral tropia confirmed by the cover test; (2) An obvious difference in the behaviour of the child when one eye was covered, as compared with the other; (3) A difference of at least two lines between the two eyes, calculated for a distance of 6 m. on the visual acuity chart, with correction if necessary.Whenever a visual acuity test could be performed, it was used as the basis for the diagnosis. In young children who did not cooperate during the visual acuity test, the diagnosis was established by the first or second criterion or both,.Children in whom these tests for amblyopia were positive were referred to the Outpatient Clinic of the Ophthalmology Department of the Negev Hospital, Beer-Sheba, for further investigations. There they were examined by an ophthalmologist, an orthoptist, and an optometrist, who decided on the diagnosis and subsequent treatment. The latter included glasses, the use of a i per cent. solution of atropine eye drops in the healthy eye (mainly in the younger children), conventional and inverse occlusion, pleoptic treatment (in a few of the oldest children), and surgery. The follow-up examinations and therapy were performed by the same team.Patients with evidence of organic eye disease were excluded from the study.

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Clinical data of 6 cases of cortical blindness in infancy were analyzed. The underlying brain damage was a result of hypoxic events occurring in the pre- or perinatal period, or shortly after birth. The long-term follow-up of the children showed that some visual recovery occurred but capacity of recognition remained impaired. Early diagnosis of this entity and adequate education will help the visual and psychomotor development of the child.