PurposeFixational saccades shift the foveal image to counteract visual fading related to neural adaptation. Drifts are slow eye movements between two adjacent fixational saccades. We quantified fixational saccades and asked whether their changes could be attributed to pathologic drifts seen in amblyopia, one of the most common causes of blindness in childhood.MethodsThirty-six pediatric subjects with varying severity of amblyopia and eleven healthy age-matched controls held their gaze on a visual target. Eye movements were measured with high-resolution video-oculography during fellow eye-viewing and amblyopic eye-viewing conditions. Fixational saccades and drifts were analyzed in the amblyopic and fellow eye and compared with controls.ResultsWe found an increase in the amplitude with decreased frequency of fixational saccades in children with amblyopia. These alterations in fixational eye movements correlated with the severity of their amblyopia. There was also an increase in eye position variance during drifts in amblyopes. There was no correlation between the eye position variance or the eye velocity during ocular drifts and the amplitude of subsequent fixational saccade. Our findings suggest that abnormalities in fixational saccades in amblyopia are independent of the ocular drift.DiscussionThis investigation of amblyopia in pediatric age group quantitatively characterizes the fixation instability. Impaired properties of fixational saccades could be the consequence of abnormal processing and reorganization of the visual system in amblyopia. Paucity in the visual feedback during amblyopic eye-viewing condition can attribute to the increased eye position variance and drift velocity.

Our findings suggest that deficient microsaccade and saccadic activity contributes to poorer sampling strategy in amblyopia, which is seen in both amblyopic and fellow eye. These deficits are more notable among subjects who experienced binocular decorrelation earlier in life, with subsequent development of LN.

The aims and objectives of the study were to compare the rate of graft uptake after type 1 tympanoplasty in wet and dry ears and also to compare the postoperative hearing improvement in wet and dry ears. It was a Non Randomized Experimental Study. This study was done in ENT OPD at Tertiary Health Care Institute of Central India. It was conducted from November 2012 to October 2014 on 86 patients having Safe Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media. The patients were divided into two groups as Dry ear group and Wet ear group. Dry ear group included patients whose ear was dry for at least 6 weeks prior to the surgery. Wet ear group included patients who had minimal mucoid discharge in the middle ear which on culture and sensitivity showed no microorganisms. Type 1 Tympanoplasty was done in all patients. Results were analyzed statistically. Complete graft uptake was seen in 86.95% cases of Dry ear group and 80% of Wet ear group and the difference was statistically insignificant. Hearing improvement was achieved in 80% cases in dry group and 67.5% cases in wet group. The difference in hearing improvement in both groups was also statistically insignificant. So conclusion was drawn that, presence of minimal mucoid ear discharge at the time of surgery does not affect the success rate of Type 1 Tympanoplasty.

Summary Congenital cataracts account for 5–20% of childhood blindness worldwide. In the US, the prevalence of visually significant infantile cataracts is anywhere from 3–4 per 10,000 live births. Infantile cataracts need to be removed early in life in order to prevent the onset of deprivation amblyopia. As a result, cataract surgery is usually performed between age 4–8 weeks depending on the laterality and severity of the cataract. Given advances in the field, pediatric cataract surgery is now a safe and effective intervention for infants, but good visual outcomes require occlusion therapy and optical correction. This review will address current perspectives on the use of intraocular lenses to optically correct infants and young children after cataract surgery, as well as novel designs for intraocular lenses and directions for future research.