Prevenção de Progressão da Miopia com Atropina Tópica 0,05%: Resultados de 2 Anos numa Coorte Portuguesa

INTRODUCTION: Myopia is considered by many an emerging public health challenge. Different forms of treatment have been proposed to treat myopia progression, one of them being topical atropine. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of 0.05% atropine eyedrops in controlling myopia progression in a cohort of Portuguese children over 2 years. METHODS: Children aged 4 to 16 years old with myopic refraction of at least -1.00 dioptre (D) and myopia progression of ≥ -0.50 D/year were enrolled in this prospective non-randomized interventional single-center study. Patients were prescribed 0.05% atropine eye drops to be applied once nightly to both eyes over a period of 2 years. Outcome measures were change in spherical equivalent (SE) and axial length (AL) over 2 years. RESULTS: Of the 55 children enrolled in the study, 24 children have completed 2 years of treatment (12 female). At the 2-year follow-up, mean SE was -5.76 (±2.36) D and mean AL was 25.27 (±1.08) mm. Change of SE from baseline was -0.47 (±0.50) D and AL change from baseline was 0.31 (±0.27) mm. After 2 years of treatment, 5 children showed no progression on SE and AL and discontinued treatment, with a mean change of SE of 0.175 D and AL of 0.10 mm. None of the patients who completed the 2-year follow-up reported adverse effects. CONCLUSION: In this cohort, 0.05% atropine eye drops were safe, well-tolerated and effectively retarded progression of SE and AL.