suppression amblyopia

suppression amblyopia, a partial loss of vision, usually in one eye, caused by cortical suppression of central vision to prevent diplopia. It occurs commonly in strabismus in the eye that deviates and does not fixate. Early recognition of strabismus and amblyopia is essential because occlusive therapy that forces use of the bad eye may dramatically improve the child’s vision if begun early. It becomes progressively less effective with increasing age but may improve vision even up to 9 years of age. Without therapy, near-blindness in the affected eye may result, but common acuity loss is 20/40 to 20/400.