Clinical trial backs efficacy of atropine for myopia management

A clinical trial exploring the efficacy of 0.01% atropine eye drops for children with myopia and intermittent exotropia concluded that they were effective and safe, with no adverse effects on exotropia conditions or binocular vision.

The randomised clinical trial involving 300 six-12 year olds of Han ethnicity was conducted from December 2020 to September 2023 at the First Affiliated Hospital with Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.

Two hundred children were assigned to the atropine group and 100 to the placebo group, with each group receiving atropine or placebo drops in both eyes once a night for 12 months.

The results, published in Jama Ophthalmology on July 3, revealed that the atropine group had slower spherical equivalent progression (-0.51 D vs -0.75 D) and axial length elongation (0.31 mm vs 0.42 mm) than the placebo group.