November 8, 2012 
The second cycle of the project of screening children in kindergartens to detect amblyopia…
Croatian Ophthalmological Society of the Croatian Medical Association and the Eye Disease Clinic in the hospital Sveti Duh have reported that the second cycle of the project of screening children in kindergartens for amblyopia has begun. In the first year of the project, 7 000 children aged 4 years were examined in Zagreb kindergartens.
Amblyopia is a disorder of the visual system that is characterized by poor or indistinct vision in an eye that is otherwise physically normal. It is estimated that is affects 1-5 % of the population. The disorder is caused by impaired transmission or lack of transmission of visual image into the brain in the period of the dysfunction of the eye or during early childhood. Amblyopia normally affects only one eye, but it is possible to be amblyopic in both eyes (if both are similarly deprived of a good, clear visual image). Detecting the condition in early childhood increases the chance of successful treatment.
According to the World Health Organization, amblyopia is a serious public health problem and it is the first of two pathological conditions in preschool children. Conducting screening is justified especially as the first test of visual acuity is not conducted until the enrollment in primary school, at which stage the treating of amblyopia, due to physiologic maturation of the visual cortex, is long overdue.
The project of screening for amblyopia has been conducted since September last year and will last for three years. Among 7000 four-year-olds, 11 percent of them were sent for a complete ophthalmic examination, and 150 children were detected with amblyopia.
Amblyopia is the most common cause of monocular blindness in the age 20 to 70 years of age and the most common pathological condition in children, and treatment of the disease is considered to be, according to the Croatian ophthalmic society, one of the most rewarding and the most effective treatment in medicine.
Screening is very simple and consists of only one test – test of visual acuity, which in the world literature is not described to have any side effects.
With this team project, Croatia became one among a dozen states that have similar projects, and the goal of the Croatian Society of Ophthalmology is to make this into a national screening, which would also become the only national screening in childhood.
Taken from: www.zdravlje.hr