0.05% atropine on control of myopia progression in Chinese school children: a randomized 3-year clinical trial

·AIM:To evaluate the effect of 0.05%atropine on the control of myopia for 2y(phase I)and on spherical equivalent refraction(SER)progression for 1y(phase II)after its withdrawal in Chinese myopic children.·METHODS:Totally 142 children with myopia were randomly assigned to the 0.05%atropine group or to the placebo group.In phase I,children received 1 treatment for each eye daily.In phase II,the patients received no treatment.Axial length(AL),SER,intraocular pressure(IOP)and atropine-related side effects were assessed at 6 months’intervals.·RESULTS:During phase I,the mean change of SER was-0.46±0.30 D in the atropine group,compared to-1.72±1.12 D in the placebo group(P<0.001).The mean change of AL in the atropine group(0.26±0.30 mm)was significantly shorter than that in the placebo group(0.76±0.62 mm,P=0.002).In addition,in phase II(12mo after the withdrawal of atropine),there was no significant difference in AL change from the atropine group,when compared with that from the placebo group(0.31±0.25 mm vs 0.28±0.26 mm,P>0.05).Furthermore,the change in SER from the atropine group was 0.50±0.41 D,which was significantly lower than 0.72±0.60 D from placebo group,(P<0.05).Finally,there were no statistically significant differences in IOP between the treatment and control groups at any stages(all P>0.05).·CONCLUSION:The use of 0.05%atropine for two consecutive years may effectively control elongation of AL and thus progression of myopia,without significant SER progression 1y after atropine withdrawal.Therefore,treatment with 0.05%atropine daily for 2y is effective and safe.

Comparison of the SITA Faster–a new visual field strategy with SITA Fast strategy

AIM:To compare visual field defects using the Swedish Interactive Thresholding Algorithm(SITA)Fast strategy with SITA Faster strategy,a newly developed time-saving threshold visual field strategy.METHODS:Ninety-three participants(60 glaucoma patients and 33 normal controls)were enrolled.One eye from each participant was selected randomly for the study.SITA Fast and SITA Faster were performed using the 24-2 default mode for each test.The differences of visual field defects between the two strategies were compared using the test duration,false-positive response errors,mean deviation(MD),visual field index(VFI)and the numbers of depressed test points at the significant levels of P<5%,<2%,<1%,and<0.5%in probability plots.The correlation between strategies was analyzed.The agreement between strategies was acquired by Bland-Altman analysis.RESULTS:Mean test durations were 246.0±60.9 s for SITA Fast,and 156.3±46.3 s for SITA Faster(P<0.001).The test duration of SITA Faster was 36.5%shorter than SITA Fast.The MD,VFI and numbers of depressed points at P<5%,<2%,<1%,and<0.5%in probability plots showed no statistically significant difference between two strategies(P>0.05).Correlation analysis showed a high correlation for MD(r=0.986,P<0.001)and VFI(r=0.986,P<0.001)between the two strategies.Bland-Altman analysis showed great agreement between the two strategies.CONCLUSION:SITA Faster,which saves considerable test time,has a great test quality comparing to SITA Fast,but may be not directly interchangeable.

Effect of intraocular lens implantation on visual field in glaucoma and comorbid cataracts

AIM: To investigate the effects of intraocular lens(IOL) implantation on visual field(VF) in patients with glaucoma and comorbid cataracts(G&C) with different disease severities.METHODS: Totally 56 eyes of 50 patients with primary G&C were included. All patients were divided into three groups based on the severity of the VF defect: the mild, moderate, and severe stage. Phacoemulsification was performed for cataract removal combined with IOL implantation. Visual acuity(VA) and VF tests were performed for all enrolled patients, up to 3 mo after surgery. Changes in VF threshold and global VF index in various groups were also recorded before and after surgery. The mean light sensitivity(MS) values and the changes following surgery(DMS) were compared between the three groups. Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study(AGIS) scoring was analyzed on all VF results for analysis of changes in VF before and after surgery.RESULTS: Following surgery, the MS values of the three groups of G&C increased significantly, while the AGIS scores decreased statistically in all groups. The DMS values for the three zones in moderate and severe stage but not mild stage were statistically different between zones. The DMS value was significantly higher in zone I than those in zone II and III(zone I>zone II>zone III;P<0.05). The DMS was significantly higher in zone I than that in zone III in moderate stage patients(zone I>zone II>zone III;P<0.01), while the DMS values in the severe stage patients was significantly higher in zone I than those in zone II and III(zone I>zone II>zone III;P<0.01). CONCLUSION: The mean VF sensitivity of glaucoma patients increased significantly after cataract removal and IOL implantation. Variations in the severity and distribution of characteristics of VF defects result in differences in postoperative VF improvements after cataract surgery. The magnitude of increase in VF sensitivity is associated with VF defect characteristic in glaucoma.

Retardation of myopia by atropine regimes

Myopia is a huge health problem due to its high frequency,vision losses and public health cost.According to the World Health Organization,at least 2.2 billion people have vision impairment.Although myopia can be controlled at its early and middle stages,unfortunately,no cure can be achieved so far.Among the methods to control myopia,atropine,a muscarinic receptor antagonist,is the oldest but still the most effective for retardation of myopia progression.Despite such a fact,standard protocols have not been established for clinicians to use atropine for treatment of myopia.In this article,a concise and up to date summary of myopia epidemiology and pathogenesis and summarized therapeutic effects and side effects,possible mechanisms and application methods of atropine were provided in hope for clinical doctors to effectively control this problematic disease.At present,the protocol is recommend:use higher dose(1%)of atropine intermittently to effectively slowdown myopia progression in schoolchildren for 2y,and to significantly reduce side effects of atropine by decrease of atropine frequency for 1y and inhibit myopic rebound by withdrawal of topical atropine gradually for 1y.Application of a lower dose(0.05%)atropine regime should also be considered due to its effectiveness and application at regular basis.