myopia progression

[drgovande]

Hello, I am a neonatologist at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin / Medical college of Wisconsin in  Wisconsin, USA.

My daughter has myopia since last two years and her power has increased from minus 2 to minus 5 in short period of one year.

While looking for different types of therapies to halt progression of myopia, like GP lenses, bifocals or atropine, I somewhat liked the results of the atropine treatment as I read these two studies.
1. Atropine for the Treatment of Childhood Myopia in Ophthalmology Volume 113, Number 12, December 2006
2. Topical Atropine in Retarding Myopic Progression and Axial Length Growth in Children with Moderate to Severe Myopia: A Pilot Study in Journal Japanese Journal of Ophthalmology Publisher Springer Japan Volume 51, Number 1 / January, 2007
I was thinking to follow this route for my daughter.
Would you please guide me to select the best therapy for her?
I would appreciate your help.
Vinayak Govande

[sophia35]

Anyone?

[sophia35]

Hello,

I suffer from severe pathological myopia. I have tried to find information about solutions that may stop or slow down the progression of myopia and its many complications.

If my information is incorrect,I  welcome corrections, on behalf of you or other people.

I read of Brian Ward's prophilactic scleral buckle (  "more recent technique") and it seems that although it may very well be the only solution for adults,it is still only done in the United States and time is needed to evaluate how successful this technique is.

I have a little boy and am worried about his future, although at present he only has astigmatism, so I looked into solutions for children. Wasn't it proven that although there were results, after stopping the atropine myopia actually started progressing faster? I also read about premature presbyopia and another side effect I can't recall.In other words how safe  is this medicine really?

I also read about 7-methylxantine. APPARENTLY it has good results and no side effects.I  think the study was done in Denmark and I don't know if it will be available commercially.

I would like to know your opinion about this as well as other people's  who would like to give their input.

Thank you beforehand and best wishes,
Sophia

[samjamal]

I am a pediatric ophthalmologist with more than 23 years of experience. I use atropine routinely to halt myopia in children. It works no doubt about it, particularly in age groups less than three. Atropine in this age group can even regress. Another piece of advice do not let your daughter sleep with the room lights open. The usual dose is 1 drop in each eye weekly. I follow first timers in 4 month and if still progression of more than o.5 diopters I increase the dose to twice weakly. I stop atropine only if I still have progression after 1 year of more than 1 diopter per year.

[kg17]

I am a researcher and statistician (although trained in pediatric neuropsychology).  I have done extensive research into progressive myopia, examining work from various sources and countries, both published and unpublished.  Some conclusions I've drawn is that 1) there is no established treatment based on research for halting progressive myopia to a significant degree, 3) environmental factors likely play a role in genetically susceptible individuals although specific factors have not been clearly delineated, 2) there is evidence that limiting extensive close-up work as well as spending a great deal of time outdoors doing activities that focus on distance vision may help (cross-cultural comparative studies provide most compelling data)

Good luck from one who suffers the effects of degenerative pathological myopia

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

I did my internship at your facility plus the MCGH.  

I have read the papers, I have no first hand treatment of patients with atropine. I suggest you consult your pediatric ophthalmologists for their opinion.

JCH III MD