Prevention of myopia progression with 0.05% atropine solution.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of 0.05% atropine solution for controlling myopia progression in school-aged children.


RESULTS
This retrospective, case-control study enrolled myopic school-aged children who had presented at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (Kaohsiung, Taiwan) from 2001 to 2004. A group of 57 children (30 boys, 27 girls; 6-12 years of age) with regular follow-up was divided into a subgroup of 21 children (12 boys, 9 girls) who received atropine eyedrops (0.05%) every evening, and a subgroup of 36 children (18 boys, 18 girls), who remained untreated, served as controls. The changes in refractive status of 114 eyes in 57 children were collected and compared for patients treated with 0.05% atropine eyedrop and those without medical control. The initial spherical equivalent of refractive status range was between -0.5 and -5.5 D. Mean myopia progression for the group of patients treated with 0.05% atropine eyedrop (n = 21) was -0.28 +/- 0.26 D/year, significantly lower than that of the control group of -0.75 +/- 0.35 D/year (36 patients; P < 0.001). The 0.05% atropine group had a significant lower ratio of uncontrolled myopia, that progressed greater than -0.50 D in 1 year, relative to the controls (16.7% versus 77.8%; P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study demonstrate that, with regular instillation, topical 0.05% atropine is an effective agent for controlling myopia progression in a majority of school-aged children for at least a period of 1 year.
Lee
Jong-Jer
JJ
Department of Ophthalmology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Fang
Po-Chiung
PC
Yang
I-Hui
IH
Chen
Chih-Hsin
CH
Lin
Pei-Wen
PW
Lin
Sue-Ann
SA
Kuo
Hsi-Kung
HK
Wu
Pei-Chang
PC
D001285:Atropine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009184:Mydriatics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009216:Myopia / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan
D009184:Mydriatics; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions; D001285:Atropine