Study: Patching, atropine produce similar visual acuity improvements at 10 years of age

Despite a frequent incidence of residual amblyopia, visual acuity improvements achieved in eyes of 10-year-old children with moderate amblyopia are comparable after initiating treatment between ages 3 and 7 years with either patching or atropine eye drops, according to a randomized study by the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group.

Michael X. Repka, MD, and colleagues randomly assigned 419 children with amblyopia to receive either patching or atropine eye drops for 6 months. The children were between 3 and 7 years of age at baseline; visual acuity ranged from 20/40 to 20/100. A subgroup of 188 of these children entered long-term follow-up 2 years after enrollment; 169 of these patients were evaluated at 10 years of age.

At 10 years, visual acuity in the amblyopic eye of these 169 patients averaged approximately 20/32, and 46% of amblyopic eyes had achieved a visual acuity of 20/25 or better.

The investigators reported a significant association between better visual acuity outcomes and an age younger than 5 years at baseline (P < .001).

In the original treatment groups, visual acuities for both amblyopic and sound eyes at 10 years of age were comparable.

"We plan to perform a final examination of all of the children in the long-term follow-up phase at age 15 years," the study authors said in the August issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.