근시의 약물치료

Medical Treatment of Progression of Myopia

The prevalence of myopia is up to 80% in young Korean population. The myopia can develop serious complications such as choroidal neovascularization, retinal detachment and glaucoma. As a result, several studies to prevent progression of myopia have been conducted. Among them, muscarinic antagonists are the more effective at slowing progression than other methods including orthokeratology and designed glasses. Recent studies have reported that low-dose atropine is also effective to slow progression of the myopia and it has fewer complications than high-dose atropine. However, long term side effect has not been clarified, and the commercial low-dose atropine is not available currently in Korea. Thus, in-depth studies about low-dose atropine should be considered.