Adjunctive Effect of Acupuncture to Refractive Correction on Anisometropic Amblyopia One-Year Results of a Randomized Crossover Trial.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the safety and adjunctive effect of acupuncture added to refractive correction for anisometropic amblyopia in younger children.

DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, controlled, crossover trial.

PARTICIPANTS: We included 83 children aged 3 to <7 years with untreated anisometropic amblyopia and baseline best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 20/40 to 20/200 in the amblyopic eye.

METHODS: Participants were randomized to receive spectacles alone (group 1; n = 42) or spectacles + acupuncture (group 2; n = 41) for 15 weeks, and were then crossed over to receive the other regimen for another 15 weeks. The BCVA in both eyes was measured at baseline and every 5 (±1) weeks for the initial 45 weeks and at 60 (±1) weeks.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: BCVA in the amblyopic eye at 15, 30, and 60 weeks.

RESULTS: The mean baseline BCVA in the amblyopic eye was 0.50 and 0.49 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution logMAR in groups 1 and 2, respectively. After 15 weeks of treatment, the BCVA had improved by a mean of 2.2 lines in group 1 and 2.9 lines in group 2. The mean difference in BCVA between groups was 0.77 lines (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.29-1.3; P = 0.0020) with baseline adjustment. BCVA of ≤0.1 logMAR was achieved in 14.6% of the patients in group 1 and 57.5% in group 2 (P<0.00010). After the regimens were crossed over at 30 weeks, group 1 had a mean of 1.2 (95% CI, 0.98-1.48; P = 2.0 × 10(-12)) lines additional improvement from the 15-week BCVA, whereas in group 2 the mean improvement was 0.4 (95% CI, 0.19-0.63; P = 0.0010) lines. The proportions of responders, resolution, and participants achieving a BCVA of ≤0.1 logMAR at 30 weeks were similar between groups. After completion of acupuncture, only 1 participant had >1 line of VA decrease to 60 weeks. Acupuncture was well-tolerated by all children, and no severe adverse effect was encountered.

CONCLUSIONS: Acupuncture is a potentially useful complementary treatment modality that may provide sustainable adjunctive effect to refractive correction for anisometropic amblyopia in young children. Further large-scale studies seem warranted.

Ophthalmology. 2011 Apr 2. [Epub ahead of print]

Lam DS, Zhao J, Chen LJ, Wang Y, Zheng C, Lin Q, Rao SK, Fan DS, Zhang M, Leung PC, Ritch R.Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; Joint Shantou International Eye Center of Shantou University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shantou, China; Institute of Chinese Medicine, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.

Acupuncture reduces symptoms of dry eye syndrome: a preliminary observational study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of acupuncture treatment on dry eye syndrome.

DESIGN: This was a prospective observational study.

SETTING: The study was conducted at a clinical evaluation center for acupuncture and moxibustion of the Korean Institute of Oriental Medicine, Republic of Korea.

SUBJECTS: The subjects were patients with dry eye disease (N = 36), defined by Schirmer test scores of <10 mm/5 min and tear film break-up times (BUTs) of <10 seconds.

TREATMENTS: Participants were treated with acupuncture three times per week for 4 weeks. MEASURE OF EFFECTIVENESS: Schirmer test scores, BUTs, symptom scores, ocular surface disease index (OSDI) scores and dry eye symptom questionnaires were compared before and after treatment to evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture treatment.

RESULTS: After treatment, symptom scores, OSDI scores and the number of dry eye symptoms were all significantly lower (p < 0.0001). Although tear wettings were significantly higher (left: p < 0.0001, right: p = 0.0012), there were no significant differences in BUTs.

CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that acupuncture treatment can effectively relieve the symptoms of dry eye and increase watery secretion.

J Altern Complement Med. 2010 Dec;16(12):1291-4.

Jeon JH, Shin MS, Lee MS, Jeong SY, Kang KW, Kim YI, Choi SM.Acupuncture, Moxibustion, and Meridian Research Center, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea.

Acupuncture treatment in patients with keratoconjunctivitis sicca: a pilot study.

AIM: To evaluate the effects of acupuncture in patients with keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS).

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-five patients (20 women, five men) with KCS were randomly assigned to an acupuncture treatment group or a control group. The effects of acupuncture were evaluated by a questionnaire on symptoms, visual analogue scale recordings, registration of drop frequency, and dry eye tests. Ten acupuncture sessions were given. Follow-up was carried out after 2-3 weeks and again after a mean period of 8 months.

RESULTS: Patients receiving acupuncture felt better at the first follow-up compared with the control group (p = 0.036). However, no statistical significance could be found concerning any change, or difference, in the total number of subjective symptoms, dosage frequency or, as indicated by the dry eye tests, tear quality, tear secretion and ocular surface disease.

CONCLUSION: The results indicate that acupuncture has subjective beneficial effects in patients with KCS and could therefore be tried as a complement to ordinary treatment.

Acta Ophthalmol Scand. 2004 Jun;82(3 Pt 1):283-90.

Grönlund MA, Stenevi U, Lundeberg T.Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, Section of Ophthalmology, Sahlgrenska Academy at Gothenburg University, Sweden. marita.gronlund@oft.gu.se