A perspective on psychophysical testing in children

Abstract

SummaryIn this paper, we show that the development of acuity in infancy is not due solely to foveal maturation , since there is a clear development of acuity in the peripheral visual field.The development of peripheral acuity, and the naso-temporal asymmetry during early development reinforce the idea that the visual loss in adult strabismic amblyopes is not due to an arrest of development, but rather to the chronic inter ocular suppression of the deviated eye.The Teller Acuity Card Test does not reliably detect strabismic amblyopia , and therefore should not be recommended as a screening test. However, the test is adequate for diagnosing visual losses in children with organic eye disorders and poss ibly anisometropia.

Early diagnosis of amblyopia

“…For infants, Teller acuity cards® (grating acuity with preferential looking) may be used to assess monocular visual acuity; however, measures of grating acuity can be cumbersome to administer. When amblyopia is present, grating acuity often underestimates the magnitude of difference in optotype acuity between the two eyes, particularly in patients with strabismic amblyopia (Sokol et al, 1983; Sireteanu et al, 1990). Emerging methods using electronic displays and automated tracking of infant gaze to measure resolution acuity could supplant the acuity card procedure in the future (Jones et al, 2014).…”