AAO Reports on Ortho-K to Prevent Myopic Progression in Children and Teens

Children and adolescents appear to benefit from orthokeratology (Ortho-K) to slow myopic progression, with the greatest effect seen when started between 6 and 8 years of age, according to a recent review of 13 studies. Among the findings:

• Axial elongation was reduced by ~ 50% with Ortho-K over two years.
• Average axial length change was ~0.3 mm in Ortho-K patients, vs 0.6 mm in controls.
• Refraction difference was ~0.5 diopters.
• Younger patients, as well as those with larger average pupil size seemed to fare better with Ortho-K. 
• Rebound was observed in some cases where Ortho-K was discontinued or changed to another treatment option.

The authors advised caution because the contact lens use that Ortho-K requires could cause microbial keratitis.

VanderVeen DK, Kraker RT, Pineles SL, Hutchinson AK, Wilson LB, Galvin JA, Lambert SR. Orthokeratology for the prevention of myopic progression in children a report by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology (2018), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2018.11.026.