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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffAnything that blurs a child's vision or causes the eyes to cross or turn out may cause lazy eye.
The most common culprit is strabismus — an imbalance in the muscles responsible for positioning of the eyes, which can cause the eyes to cross in or turn out. The muscle imbalance prevents the eyes from tracking with each other.
Sometimes lazy eye is the result of an anatomic or structural abnormality, such as an abnormal central retina or a cloudy area in the lens of the eye (cataract). In other cases, an abnormal eye shape or a size difference between the eyes contributes to lazy eye.
Occasionally, a wandering eye is the first sign of an eye tumor.
- Amblyopia. National Eye Institute. National Institutes of Health. http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/amblyopia. Accessed Sept. 10, 2008.
- Doshi NR, et al. Amblyopia. American Family Physician 2007;75(3):361-367.
- Parenting corner Q&A: Your child's eyes. American Academy of Pediatrics. http://www.aap.org/publiced/BR_Eyes.htm. Accessed Sept. 10, 2008.
- Retinoblastoma treatment (PDQ) patient version. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/retinoblastoma/patient/allpages/print. Accessed Sept. 10, 2008.
- Preferred practice pattern: Ambylopia. American Academy of Ophthalmology. http://one.aao.org/asset.axd?id=990d3861-25e9-4bc9-ad7e-9796b932a4d9. Accessed Sept. 10, 2008.
- Fact sheet: Amblyopia. National Institutes of Health. http://www.nih.gov/about/researchresultsforthepublic/Amblyopia.pdf. Accessed Sept. 10, 2008.
