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Clinical trials show weekend atropine treatment improves vision
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SAN FRANCISCO — Two clinical trials show weekend atropine treatment improves visual acuity in children with severe amblyopia from strabismus, anisometropia or both, according to a presenter here.
At the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus meeting, Michael X. Repka, MD, presented the results of prospective, randomized clinical trials of 60 children with severe amblyopia between the ages of 3 and 6 years and 40 children between 7 and 12 years.
The 3- to 6-year-old age group was randomized to weekend atropine treatment alone or weekend atropine treatment plus a plano lens for the unaffected eye. The 7- to 12-year-old age group was randomized to weekend atropine or 2 hours of daily patching.
At 18 weeks, visual acuity in the 3- to 6-year-old atropine-only group improved an average of 4.5 lines. The atropine plus plano group improved 5.1 lines. In the 7- to 12-year-old atropine group, visual acuity improved 1.5 lines, and in the patching group, visual acuity improved 1.8 lines, Dr. Repka said.
"We’ve shown that severe amblyopia can be treated with atropine," Dr. Repka said.