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Assessment of myopic rebound effect after discontinuation of treatment with 0.01% atropine eye drops in Japanese school-age children

  • Clinical Investigation
  • Published:
Japanese Journal of Ophthalmology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Having previously demonstrated the efficacy of 0.01% atropine eye drops for inhibiting progression of childhood myopia, we conducted additional analyses to assess post-treatment changes in myopia progression.

Study design

Analysis of follow-up data from a previously reported randomized controlled trial

Methods

A mixed-effects model was used to compare intergroup changes in spherical equivalent (SE) and axial length (AL) at 1 month and 12 months after discontinuation of 2-year treatment with atropine or placebo in 167 school-age children.

Results

Follow-up measurements were available for 149 participants at 1 month after discontinuation of treatment and for 51 participants at 12 months after discontinuation. At 1 month post-treatment, differences between the atropine and placebo groups in least squares (LS) mean changes in SE and AL, respectively, from 24 months were −0.06 diopters (D) (95% CI: −0.21, 0.08; P = .39) and 0.02 mm (95% CI: −0.05, 0.08; P = .60). At 12 months post-treatment, intergroup differences (atropine vs placebo) in LS mean changes in SE and AL, respectively, were −0.13 D (95% CI: −0.35, 0.10; P = .26) and −0.02 mm (95% CI: −0.12, 0.09; P = .75). LS mean changes in SE and AL from treatment discontinuation did not differ between the groups at 1 or 12 months post-treatment.

Conclusion

Axial elongation was significantly less in the atropine group than in the placebo group. The suppression effect obtained at 2 years was maintained after 12 months. The absence of intergroup differences in myopia progression since treatment cessation suggests that myopic rebound did not occur.

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Acknowledgements

The ATOM-J Study was supported by Eye-Lens Pte., Ltd., Singapore. The sponsor had no role in the design or conduct of this research. The authors wish to recognize the contributions of all members of the ATOM-J Study group (Osamu Hieda, Takahiro Hiraoka, Takashi Fujikado, Satoshi Ishiko, Satoshi Hasebe, Hidemasa Torii, Hiroshi Takahashi, Yo Nakamura, Chie Sotozono, Tetsuro Oshika, Takeshi Morimoto, Kohji Nishida, Noriko Nishikawa, Young-Seok Song, Tomoki Tokutake, Yasuyo Nishi, Yuta Shigeno, Toshihide Kurihara, Kazuno Negishi, Kazuo Tsubota, Masafumi Ono, Tomoko Nakai, Donald Tan, Shiro Tanaka, and Shigeru Kinoshita).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto, 602-8566, Japan

    Osamu Hieda

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Takahiro Hiraoka

  3. Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan

    Takashi Fujikado

  4. Department of Ophthalmology, Asahikawa Medical University, Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan

    Satoshi Ishiko

  5. Department of Ophthalmology 2, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan

    Satoshi Hasebe

  6. Department of Ophthalmology, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Hidemasa Torii

  7. Department of Ophthalmology, Nippon Medical School, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Hiroshi Takahashi

  8. Clinical Biostatistics Course, School of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan

    Shiro Tanaka

  9. Department of Frontier Medical Science and Technology for Ophthalmology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan

    Shigeru Kinoshita

Authors
  1. Osamu Hieda
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  2. Takahiro Hiraoka
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  3. Takashi Fujikado
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  4. Satoshi Ishiko
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  5. Satoshi Hasebe
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  6. Hidemasa Torii
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  7. Hiroshi Takahashi
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  8. Shiro Tanaka
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Consortia

The ATOM-J Study Group

  • Osamu Hieda
  • , Takahiro Hiraoka
  • , Takashi Fujikado
  • , Satoshi Ishiko
  • , Satoshi Hasebe
  • , Hidemasa Torii
  • , Hiroshi Takahashi
  • , Yo Nakamura
  • , Chie Sotozono
  • , Tetsuro Oshika
  • , Takeshi Morimoto
  • , Kohji Nishida
  • , Noriko Nishikawa
  • , Young-Seok Song
  • , Tomoki Tokutake
  • , Yasuyo Nishi
  • , Yuta Shigeno
  • , Toshihide Kurihara
  • , Kazuno Negishi
  • , Kazuo Tsubota
  • , Masafumi Ono
  • , Tomoko Nakai
  • , Donald Tan
  • , Shiro Tanaka
  •  & Shigeru Kinoshita

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Osamu Hieda.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

O. Hieda, Provision of drugs, translation and submission of this article (Eye-Lens Pte., Ltd); T. Hiraoka, None; T. Fujikado, None; S. Ishiko, None; S. Hasebe, None; H. Torii, None; H. Takahashi, None; S. Tanaka, Consulting fees (Daiichi-Sankyo, Satt, Welby, Eli Lilly), Payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events (Bayer, Research Institute of Healthcare Data Science, Amgen); S. Kinoshita, Grants or contracts (Santen, Senju, HOYA), Consulting fees (Santen, Alcon, At Working), Payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events (Santen, Senju, Alcon, Johnson & Johnson Vision, At Working).

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Corresponding Author: Osamu Hieda

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Hieda, O., Hiraoka, T., Fujikado, T. et al. Assessment of myopic rebound effect after discontinuation of treatment with 0.01% atropine eye drops in Japanese school-age children. Jpn J Ophthalmol 67, 602–611 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10384-023-01012-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10384-023-01012-8

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