Abstract
PURPOSE: To investigate 2-year changes in macular choroidal thickness (ChT) in children receiving 0.01% atropine eyedrops and its relationship with spherical equivalent refraction (SER) progression and axial length (AL) elongation. METHODS: A total of 250 myopic children aged 6-16 years (167%-0.01% atropine, 83-placebo) were enrolled in the MOSAIC (ISRCTN36732601) clinical trial. Participants with complete 2-year ChT (Topcon Triton Swept-Source OCT), SER, and AL data were included in this study. Changes in macular ChT at 2 years and associations with changes in SER and AL elongation were analysed using linear mixed models. RESULTS: A total of 187 children (126%-0.01% atropine, 61-placebo) were included in the analysis. Choroidal thickness over 2 years was stable in the 0.01% atropine compared with placebo group, which exhibited consistent thinning in subfoveal (mean ± SE: 0.49 ± 2.22 μm vs. -9.46 ± 2.69 μm; p = 0.034), parafoveal (1.40 ± 1.73 μm vs. -8.11 ± 2.08 μm; p = 0.002), and perifoveal (0.80 ± 1.25 vs. -6.17 ± 1.69; p = 0.002) macular subfields. Choroidal thickening was observed in participants with slower axial eye growth and myopia progression, regardless of their treatment group. Mediation analysis indicated that atropine 0.01% had a significant effect on ChT, with 68.3% of the effect being direct and 31.7% mediated through axial length changes. For SER, the direct effect on ChT was 80%, with the remaining 20% mediated by SER changes. CONCLUSIONS: Myopic participants treated with 0.01% atropine exhibited stable ChT over 2 years, whereas the placebo group showed consistent thinning. The effect of atropine 0.01% on ChT was only partially explained by axial length and SER changes, indicating a direct effect of atropine treatment on the choroid.