Residual amblyopia in recruits to the British Army.

Abstract

effect; the mechanism of this is unknown but is associated with prolongation of the QT interval.3 There is little doubt that in the two cases reported here amiodarone exerted an antiarrhythmic effect within a few hours of the first oral dose. Possibly previous treatment with other antiarrhythmic agents had in some way sensitised the myocardium to the effects of amiodarone. The prolongation of the QT interval suggests that in our patients oral amiodarone produced an acute pharmacological effect similar to that seen after intravenous administration. Our observations cannot be explained on the basis of current knowledge of the pharmacokinetics of oral amiodarone and highlight the need for further investigation of its mode of action. IRosenbaum MB, Chiale PA, Halpern MS, et al. Clinical efficacy of amiodarone as an antiarrhythmic agent. Am J Cardiol 1976;38:934-44. 2 Vaughan Williams EM. The discovery of the anti-arrhythmic action of amiodarone. In: Amiodarone in cardiac arrhythmias. London: Royal Society of Medicine, 1978:1-11. (International Congress and Symposium Series, No 16.) 3 Marcus FI, Fontaine GH, Frank R, Grosgogeat Y. Clinical pharmacology and therapeutic applications of the antiarrhythmic agent, amiodarone.

Assessment of an inner city visual screening programme for preschool children.

“…Studies in Scandinavia suggest that the incidence of amblyopia has reduced since the commencement of screening services for children17 but an article looking at the incidence of amblyopia in recruits to the British Army found no convincing change from an incidence of 4.7% males in 1965 to 4-1% in 1976. 18 School visual screening programmes have been criticised because of late referral and the risk this poses to effective treatment for the amblyopia.6 Arguments have been made to remove the school screening service from the system, therefore allowing for reallocation of resources.3 The findings of this study in which preschool screening was found to be inefficient do not support the cessation of school screening. It should be easier to examine all of the children 100 r 90 in a geographical area by screening at school.…”

The clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of screening programmes for amblyopia and strabismus in children up to the age of 4-5 years: a systematic review and economic evaluation

“…[11][12][13][14][15][16][17] This chapter summarises the data relating to the prevalence of amblyopia, strabismus and refractive error. Four papers were identified relating to prevalence of amblyopia, [11][12][13][14] three papers reporting the prevalence of strabismus [15][16][17] and one paper reporting the prevalence of refractive errors. 17 It can be seen that the literature searches elicited few data regarding the prevalence or incidence of amblyopia, strabismus and refractive error.…”

“…Hopkisson and colleagues 12 reported on the prevalence of amblyopia in British Army recruits, and examined whether prevalence has altered since the introduction of screening programmes. The authors selected a 20% random sample of recruits' medical records for two years (1965 and 1976) and examined the number of recruits with amblyopia (defined as a difference between the two eyes of two or more lines on the Snellen acuity chart, with the good eye having vision of 6/9 or better).…”

An inner city preschool visual screening programme: long term visual results

“…It has been reported that 75% of orthoptic departments in the UK provide such a service2 but despite this there is no evidence for a reduction in the prevalence of amblyopia in adults and one study found that the prevalence in army recruits had remained the same over a 10 year period from 1965 to 1976 3. Factors which could limit the success of such programmes might include (1) inability of the screening programme to reach the affected population; (2) poor detection and treatment of amblyopia; (3) difficulty retaining patients in treatment programmes; or (4) post-treatment deterioration in visual acuity in the amblyopic eye.…”