Role of transcranial direct current stimulation in treatment of children with amblyopia

Abstract

Objective: to study the possibility of visual functions ant condition of higher nervous activity of children with amblyopia with the method of transcranial  direct current stimulation during drug treatment. Materials and methods: 32 healthy children in the age of 5-12 years and 97 patients of the same age with refractive amblyopia were screened. Research methods: standard ophthalmological - visometry, refraktometry in normal conditions and in cycloplegia, biomicroscopy of eye, ophthalmoscopy, definition of vision character; neurophysiological methods - latency period of parameters of visual evoked potential, electroencephalography with аmplitude definition; alpha – rhythm frequency; slow waves, locating peak electrical activity area of the cerebral cortex; assessment of neuropsychic state of the patients, including mental development scaling (MDS) by mental age tests. Results: proposed treatment enhances neurophysiological measures of the visual sensory system in 83.5% of all cases and visual acuity in 81,4% of all cases, the state of higher nervous activity closer to the physiological norm at 86.6%. Conclusion: the results of these examinations have confirmed a neurophysiological direction of the new treatment method with use of transcranial direct current stimulation. It has observed that the patients from the age of 5-6 have had the maximum clinical effect so it has been recommended to hold amblyopia treatment in preschool age. Due to the significant improvement of patients’ mental development coefficient, improvement of memory, logical thinking, adaptation in collective transcranial direct current stimulation treatment method of children with amblyopia has a social protection in the Russian Federation.