Is strabismus considered a risk factor for amblyopia or “lazy eye”?

Yes. Misaligned eyes, known as strabismus, are considered to be a risk factor for amblyopia, the leading cause of vision loss among children and young adults. For normal vision to occur, both eyes need to aim at the same spot, and the brain then combines the images from each eye into a single, three-dimensional image. Eye misalignment can cause amblyopia, or lazy eye, in children because the brain can’t properly merge the two images into a single image and learns to ignore or discard the image from the misaligned eye. Strabismus may result in “double vision,” meaning the brain doesn’t discard the second image.