Abstract
Purpose :
Topical atropine is now widely used by pediatric optometrists and ophthalmologists for controlling myopia progression, however, the optimal dosing routine is yet to be determined. This study first examined the efficacy of topical 1% atropine applied daily and once per week for controlling myopia in pigmented guinea pigs.
Methods :
Eighteen pigmented guinea pigs (New Zealand strain; 11 male, 7 female) wore -10D custom-made rigid gas-permeable contact lenses in one eye for two weeks for myopia induction. Eight animals were also treated with atropine daily, two with atropine once per week, and eight received topical artificial tears as a placebo control. The primary outcome measure is change in axial length AL), measured with the Lenstar in alert animals. Refractive errors were also measured with retinoscopy, and corneal curvatures were measured using anterior segment OCT and analyzed using a custom matlab software.
Results :
While there were no significant differences between the 3 groups after one week of treatment, animals treated with daily atropine became significantly less myopic than the control group at the end of week 2 (AL, p = 0.04). However, at the latter timepoint, there was no significant difference between the control group and animals treated once per week (study of this group is ongoing). The attached figures show mean changes (+/-SEM) in axial length (Figure 1) and in refractive error (Figure 2).
Conclusions :
Daily administration of 1% topical atropine slows myopia progression in pigmented guinea pigs, with a larger effect noted in the second week of treatment. The efficacy of weekly atropine is the subject of on-going investigation.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.