Non-organic Visual Disturbances Observed for Over A Year

• Published in: JAPANESE ORTHOPTIC JOURNAL Vol. 41; pp. 155 - 161
• Main Authors: Inoue, Kenji, Ozawa, Yuki, Oguchi, Yoshihisa, Mukai, Shota, Wakakura, Masato, Kobayashi, Kaori, Sato, Mizue, Ishii, Yuko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: JAPANESE ASSOCIATION OF CERTIFIED ORTHOPTISTS 2012
• Subjects: non-organic visual disturbances; recurrence; visual acuity at initial diagnosis
• ISSN: 0387-5172; 1883-9215
• DOI: 10.4263/jorthoptic.041F114

Purpose: To study the clinical characteristics of children who had been followed up for more than a year and required a longer treatment period for non-organic visual disturbances. Subjects and Methods: Subjects were 130 children (20 boys, 110 girls) under the age of 15 years who were diagnosed with non-organicvisual disturbances at the Inouye Eye Hospital between January 2006 and December 2010 and had been followed up for more than a year. Based on the visual acuity outcomes, the subjects were classified into 4 groups: a quick-recovery group (recovery within a year, 24 subjects), a slow-recovery group (longer than a year, 20 subjects), a recurrence group (55 subjects) and a no-improvement group (31 subjects). Data including gender ratio, reasons for consultation, general findings, refraction results, lens prescription, visual acuity and age at diagnosis were collected from the medical records and were retrospectively evaluated. Results: The recurrence group had the highest number of subjects among the four groups with a dominant number of girls. The quick-recovery group had the highest ratio of boys to girls than the other 3 groups. Unilateral cases were exclusively seen in girls and visual acuity of these patients was all improved. The result of a school health checkup was the reason for consultation in all four groups and no specific causative factors for the disease were indicated. The age of 8 to 9 years was the most common age at diagnosis and no difference was seen among the 4 groups. Many of the subjects in the no-improvement group had poor visual acuity at diagnosis and this was particularly noticeable in girls and those under the age of 7. Conclusion: This study with a follow-up period of more than a year showed that girls with non-organic visual disturbances tented to have poor visual acuity at diagnosis as well as in the final outcome while boys were observed with better results. This study showed a higher rate of recurrence than previous reports. Poor vision at the initial diagnosis tended to lead to recurrence and no improvement in final visual outcome.