BACKGROUND: To assess the role of continuous therapy for 3 weeks with levodopa and carbidopa in the management of human amblyopia in children and adults. METHOD: There were 88 amblyopic eyes of 82 subjects included in this double masked randomized prospective clinical trial. Levodopa and carbidopa combination in 2 different dosage schedules were given to both adults and children. The response was monitored of the improvement in visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and visually evoked potentials. RESULT: Patients receiving higher dosages of levodopa and carbidopa in both adults and children showed a better response to treatment. However, the effect did not last beyond 9 weeks of stopping treatment. CONCLUSION: Though levodopa and carbidopa therapy may not be able to ameliorate amblyopia on its own on a long-term basis, it may be considered nonetheless to be an important adjunct to conventional therapy because it may improve patient compliance for occlusion by improving visual acuity in the amblyopic eye. Thus, it offers promise of improving the functional outcome in these cases. However, longer follow-up trials are needed to substantiate these conclusions.
BACKGROUND: To assess the role of continuous therapy for 3 weeks with levodopa and carbidopa in the management of human amblyopia in children and adults. METHOD: There were 88 amblyopic eyes of 82 subjects included in this double masked randomized prospective clinical trial. Levodopa and carbidopa combination in 2 different dosage schedules were given to both adults and children. The response was monitored of the improvement in visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and visually evoked potentials. RESULT: Patients receiving higher dosages of levodopa and carbidopa in both adults and children showed a better response to treatment. However, the effect did not last beyond 9 weeks of stopping treatment. CONCLUSION: Though levodopa and carbidopa therapy may not be able to ameliorate amblyopia on its own on a long-term basis, it may be considered nonetheless to be an important adjunct to conventional therapy because it may improve patient compliance for occlusion by improving visual acuity in the amblyopic eye. Thus, it offers promise of improving the functional outcome in these cases. However, longer follow-up trials are needed to substantiate these conclusions.