Effects of atropine 0.01% on refractive errors in children with myopia

BACKGROUND: Little is known about changes in astigmatism during atropine treatment. We aimed to explore the effects of atropine 0.01% eye drops on both spherical and cylindrical refractive errors in myopic children. METHODS: Children aged 6–14 years with myopia ≥ −6.00 D and < −0.50 D, and total astigmatism > −2.00 D in at least one eye were enrolled. Subjects were randomised either to receive atropine 0.01% once nightly with single-vision lenses or simply to wear single-vision lenses and were followed up at 3-month intervals. Cycloplegic refraction and axial length were measured. The magnitude and direction of total astigmatism (TA), corneal astigmatism (CA), and residual astigmatism (RA) were evaluated. RESULTS: Overall, 119 eyes (69 eyes in the atropine group and 50 eyes in the control group) were included in the final analyses after 9 months. Atropine-treated eyes showed significantly less progression of myopia than did control eyes (spherical equivalent: −0.35 ± 0.33 vs. −0.56 ± 0.49 D, p = 0.001; axial length: 0.20 ± 0.19 vs. 0.33 ± 0.19 mm, p < 0.001). Compared with control eyes (−0.04 ± 0.23 D), a significant increase in TA was observed in the atropine-treated eyes (−0.14 ± 0.29 D); this was mainly attributed to the increase in CA (−0.17 ± 0.26 D) rather than the minor decrease in RA (0.02 ± 0.32 D). CONCLUSIONS: Atropine 0.01% was effective in preventing myopia progression, whereas 9 months of atropine treatment resulted in a clinically small, but statistically significant increase in TA in myopic Chinese children.