American Academy of Ophthalmology
This prospective study randomly assigned 282 patients, ages 3 to 7, with unilateral amblyopia to received atropine or patching. Patients were followed for up to two years of treatment. Because some children changed treatments during the study, patients were subdivided into those receiving atropine alone (41) and those receiving patching alone (64). In the sound eye, the mean change in refractive error in the atropine group was –0.21 D. In the patching group, the mean change was –0.06 D—an interesting finding that contradicts the theory that atropine can be used to treat progression of myopia.