Low-dose atropine, MiSight help slow myopia progression in children, adolescents
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MONTEREY, Calif. — Digital devices, near work, less time outdoors and genetics contribute to increased myopia in children, but there are ways to mitigate progression, according to a speaker at the Women in Ophthalmology Summer Symposium.
In one study that examined myopia progression in “the home confinement year of 2020,” there was a “tremendous increase, especially in the younger kids,” Rupa Wong, MD, said. There was a threefold increase in 6-year-olds, whereas the increase was only 1.4 times in 8-year-olds.
“They think that difference is because the younger children, prior to the pandemic, really weren’t on devices as much as the older kids were,” Wong, a pediatric ophthalmologist at Honolulu Eye Clinic, said.
Low-dose atropine treatment and MiSight daily disposable soft contact lenses (CooperVision) are two ways to slow myopia progression in children and adolescents.
“Now we have treatment options,” Wong said.
For patients on a myopia management protocol, Wong performs a refraction and measures axial length every 6 months whether the patient is on low-dose atropine, MiSight or combination treatment. Low-dose atropine is an option for patients with astigmatism or who are very young, she said.
“I start everybody on 0.05%,” she said. “I follow up at the 1- to 2-week mark with a HIPAA-secure text message to assess if they have light sensitivity or decrease in near vision.”
Wong has either treated or is treating more than 200 patients with low-dose atropine.
She was also the first in Hawaii to fit the MiSight contact lens, she said. Wong offers the MiSight to patients aged 8 to 16 years and has 26 patients wearing MiSight lenses with 10 in combination treatment.
“Yes, 8-year-olds can put contact lenses in if you train them properly,” she said.
Decreasing near work and spending more time outdoors are other easy, free ways to take action against myopia progression, she said.
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Wong R. A cut above: Myopia management. Presented at: Women in Ophthalmology Summer Symposium; Aug. 25-28, 2022; Monterey, California (hybrid meeting).
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