Repeated low-level red light therapy beneficial in children with high myopia

Treatment with repeated low-level red light (RLRL) shows greater efficacy among children and adolescents with high myopia, resulting in substantial axial shortening, reports a study. 

Children (n=192) aged 6 to 16 years were enrolled in this multicentre, randomized, parallel-group, single-blind trial between February 2021 and April 2022. They were randomly allocated to receive either RLRL plus single-vision spectacles (intervention) or spectacles only (control). 

The RLRL treatment was administered for 3 minutes per session, twice daily, with a minimum interval of 4 hours, 7 days per week. Follow-up was completed by April 2023. 

Each child had at least one eye with myopia of cycloplegic spherical equivalent refraction (SER) at least ‒4.0 diopters (D), astigmatism of ≤2.0 D, anisometropia of ≤3.0 D, and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 0.2 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution or better. Of the children, 188 (97.91 percent) were included in the analysis: 96 in the intervention group and 92 in the control group. 

After 1 year, the adjusted mean change in axial length was ‒0.06 mm (95 percent confidence interval [CI], ‒0.10 to ‒0.02) in the intervention group and 0.34 mm (95 percent CI, 0.30‒0.39) in the control group. Forty-eight children (53.3 percent) who received RLRL still had axial shortening >0.05 mm at the 12-month follow-up. 

Additionally, the mean SER change after 12 months was 0.11 D (95 percent CI, 0.02‒0.19) in the intervention group and ‒0.75 (95 percent CI, ‒0.88 to ‒0.62) in the control group. 

“RLRL provides an excellent solution for the management of high myopia progression, a significant challenge in ophthalmology practice,” the researchers said.