But docs aren't ready to ditch the treatment, which is commonly used in Asia
The short-term use of atropine eye drops to treat myopia in children did not affect long-term visual outcomes, the prospective observational ATLAS study of participants from two randomized trials showed. The mean spherical equivalent (SE) and axial length (AL) in those who received atropine 1.0% in the ATOM1 trial were similar to those who received placebo, with a difference in SE of 0.80 D (95% CI -0.25 to 1.85 D, P=0.13) and a difference in AL of -0.03 mm (95% CI -0.65 to 0.58 mm, P=0.92), reported Marcus Ang, PhD, of Singapore Eye Research Institute at Singapore National Eye Centre, and colleagues. Among patients from the ATOM2 trial, the mean SE and AL were similar in the 0.01%, 0.1%, and 0.5% atropine groups, at -6.40 D and 26.25 mm, -6.81 D and 26.28 mm, and -7.19 D and 26.31 mm, respectively, they noted in JAMA Ophthalmology. There were no differences in the 20-year incidence of cataract/lens opacities, myopic macular degeneration, or parapapillary atrophy when comparing the group treated with 1% atropine versus the placebo group. However, rates of myopic macular degeneration were higher in the ATOM2 groups who received higher doses of atropine: 19.6%, 28.7%, and 38.1% in the 0.01%, 0.1%, and 0.5% atropine groups, respectively. "The ATLAS results remind us that there is uncertainty regarding the long-term value and safety of atropine eye drops for myopia control," wrote Michael X. Repka, MD, MBA, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, in an accompanying commentary. "These findings highlight the need for randomized clinical studies to define effective and safe myopia control strategies early in myopia development but also include methods to obtain the critical long-term studies of refractive error outcomes." Ang told MedPage Today that in recent decades,…