Combination Therapy with Atropine 0.05% and Myopi-X® Glasses: Is it Effective in Myopia Control?

Objectives: To investigate whether the combination therapy of Myopi-X^® peripheral progressive addition lenses (PAL; Novax^®) and atropine 0.05% provides an additive effect compared to monotherapies with either Myopi-X^® PAL or atropine 0.05%.

Materials and methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study reviewed the clinical records of 51 patients, categorized into three groups: 27 in the Myopi-X group, 13 in the atropine 0.05% group, and 11 in the combination therapy group using Myopi-X peripheral PAL with atropine 0.05%. Baseline characteristics, including age, cycloplegic spherical equivalent (SE), and axial length (AL), were compared between the groups. Twelve months after treatment initiation, changes in SE and AL were assessed and compared between the groups.

Results: Among the 51 patients analyzed, the baseline characteristics differed significantly between the groups, with the atropine 0.05% group showing a higher average age, longer AL, and lower SE compared to the other groups. After 12 months, no significant differences were found in SE changes between the treatment groups (p=0.35). Similarly, changes in AL did not significantly differ between the groups (p=0.10), although age had a significant impact on AL change (p=0.01). No significant differences were observed in pairwise comparisons of SE or AL changes between the groups.

Conclusion: In this study, combining atropine 0.05% with Myopi-X PALs did not provide an additive benefit. The literature suggests that both treatments are effective in slowing myopia progression individually; however, in our study, their combination did not significantly improve SE progression or axial elongation compared to monotherapies. Further randomized studies with larger patient groups are needed to confirm these findings and assess long-term effects.