Abstract
Purpose: :
Orthokeratology as a possible mean to suppress myopia progression in children has been recently discussed. There have been occasional reports on changes in axial length after orthokeratology but no prospective studies with appropriate controls have been presented. The current prospective study was conducted to observe the influence of orthokeratology on the axial length in children, with those wearing spectacles as the control.
Methods: :
Ninety two subjects (184 eyes) enrolled in this study. The overnight orthokeratology (OK) group composed of 42 patients (84 eyes, age, 12.0 ± 2.6 years, mean ± SD) who were subjected to the therapy after being observed for > 2 years following stabilization of visual acuity. The control group consisted of 50 patients (100 eyes, 11.9 ± 2.1 years) who wore spectacles and also had been observed for > 2 years. The spherical equivalent refractive error prior to treatment was -2.55 ± 1.82 D and -2.59 ± 1.66 D for the OK and control groups, respectively. No difference was noted between the two groups in gender, age, refraction, logMAR visual acuity, and axial length at the baseline. The axial length was measured with IOL Master (Zeiss Humphrey System, CA, USA). The changes in axial length during the 2-year period were evaluated and compared between the groups.
Results: :
The axial length increased during the 2-year study period by 0.39 ± 0.27 mm and 0.61 ± 0.24 mm in the OK and control groups, respectively, which was significantly different between groups (P < 0.0001, unpaired t test).
Conclusions: :
Orthokeratology suppressed axial length elongation in myopic children, suggesting the possibility of this treatment modality to reduce myopia progression to a certain extent.
Keywords: myopia • visual development: infancy and childhood • contact lens