Clinical evaluation of management of amblyopia in adolescent age group (10-19 years) with addition of citicoline to the conventional occlusion therapy. Abstract Aim - To evaluate efficacy of citicoline as an adjuvant to occlusion and near activity exercise in management of amblyopia in adolescent age group. Material and Methods- We included 79 eligible patients of age group 10-19 years for study. Consent was taken from each of patients. All patients undergone full ophthalmological examination to establish diagnosis of amblyopia and were prescribed their best corrected spectacles. They were divided in three groups using randomization chart, Group A-received full time occlusion, Group B - received full time occlusion and near activity exercises and Group C - received full time occlusion and oral citicoline 500 mg BD for three months. They were followed up four weekly up to 24 weeks. Result- During follow up 9 patients lost to follow up. Out of 70 patients who completed study, 36 (51.43%) showed improvement in their vision for distance. We recorded this improvement in lines on snellenýÿs chart. No improvement was present in 14 patients (58%) in group A, 15 patients (60%) in group B and 5 patients (23.81%) in group C. Among groups, responders were 41.67%, 40% and 76.2% in group A, B and C respectively. The difference among three groups was statistically significant (p value-0.024 chi-square test). ConclusionOral citicoline added to occlusion therapy is a new, safe and effective modality for amblyopia management and chances of improvement in visual acuity is better than other treatment options.

Keywords: Strabismus; Amblyopia; Occlusion; Citicoline.