Pupillary light reflex in amblyopia.

The pupillary light reflex of 15 strabismic and anisometropic amblyopes, and eight subjects who had recovered from functional amblyopia was studied by using an infrared electropupillogram. Ten of the fifteen amblyopes had significantly longer latencies of contraction when the amblyopic eyes were stimulated than when the normal eyes were stimulated. However, there was no relationship between the delay in pupillary light reflexes and reduced visual acuity of amblyopic eyes. The amplitudes and maximum velocities of the contraction were not altered significantly in amblyopic and normal eyes. All of the subjects who had recovered showed no significant difference of the latencies of the pupillary responses to stimulation between normal and amblyopic eyes. These findings indicate that a retinal mechanism in amblyopic eyes may be responsible for the abnormally long pupillary light reflex latency.