Cyllindrical power in a 3 month old baby who was born 11 weeks premature

Dear Doctor,

My baby was born 11 weeks premature and his corrected age is 3 months now. He was given lazer shots on his left eye to prevent ROP in his second month after birth.

He now has a cyllindrical power as follows:

Left eye - +0.50 at 10 degree A
Right eye - -3.00 at 180 degree A

and has been prescribed to wear glasses.

My concerns / questions are:

1. Is this curable?
2. What will happen if he does not wear the glasses?
3. How long should he be wearing the glasses - number of hours a day & number of years?
4. Is there a diet / eye exercise regimen that can rectify this over a period of time?
5. What is the difference between cyllindrical and sperical power? Are they mutually exclusive or can co-exist?
6. What should I be worried about going into the future about his eye?

The family background is that both me & my wife are bespectacled. My wife has a lazy eye.

Regards

[Sandra M Brown, MD]

1. No.
2. He might develop refractive amblyopia, also known as anisometropic amblyopia.  You can read extensively about this condition at www.aapos.org.
3.  Follow your doctor's advice.
4. No.
5. The two types of "defocus" powers can coexist.  Spherical power is either myopia or hyperopia - both cannot be present at once in the same eye.  Cylinder and sphere are the two main 'ingredients' in a glasses prescription.  One is not necessarily worse than the other.
6.  Amblyopia, strabismus, long-term complications of retinopathy of prematurity.  Research these at www.aapos.org.