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AnisometropiaNCT03610997

Photorefractive Keratectomy for Severe Anisometropia and Isoametropia Associated With Amblyopia

A study testing Photorefractive keratectomy in people with Anisometropia and Hyperopia, run by Baylor College of Medicine at 1 site in United States.

Terminated

Stopped early. The study ended before it was planned to and will not resume.

Official record
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Trial summary

Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) with excimer laser has been used successfully to treat myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism in adults for over 35 years. Children with high refractive errors that go untreated will develop severe amblyopia. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 2 to 17 years
Conditions the study is for
Anisometropia, Hyperopia, High Myopia
What is being tested?
Photorefractive keratectomy
Type of treatment
Surgery or procedure
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
200 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
1 Jan 2001to 1 Sep 2024
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 2 to 17 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Child

Who may be able to join

  • Children aged 2 to 17 with significant anisometropia or isoametropia and amblyopia that have failed traditional treatment for at least 6 months.
  • Anisometropic group:
  • The anisometropia must be at least 3.00 diopters.
  • The amblyopic eye best corrected visual acuity must be at least 2 lines worse than the fellow eye in verbal children
  • Isoametropic group
  • Myopia must be at least -4.00 diopters in both eyes
  • Hyperopia must be at least +4.00 diopters in both eyes
  • Astigmatism must be at least +2.50 diopters in both eyes.

Who cannot join

  • History of significant corneal abnormality that, in the investigator's opinion, may limit visual rehabilitation.
  • History of known collagen disorder
  • History of known corneal ectasia
  • History of previous herpes simplex keratitis
  • Corneal thickness of less than 450u

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • Texas Children's Hospital

    Houston, Texas, 77030

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: Photorefractive Keratectomy for Anisometropic and Isoametropic Amblyopia in Children Refractory to Conventional Treatment

Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) with excimer laser has been used successfully to treat myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism in adults for over 35 years. Children with high refractive errors that go untreated will develop severe amblyopia. PRK can normalize high refractive errors and potentially improve the visual acuity in affected children. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether children with high anisometropia or isoametropia with amblyopia that are nonresponsive to standard therapy and receive PRK develop better longterm visual acuity.

Read the detailed description

Anisometropia is a condition in which one eye has a significantly different refractive error from the other and commonly leads to the development of refractive amblyopia in the affected eye. High isoametropia is the condition in which both eyes have high refractive error and commonly leads to bilateral refractive amblyopia if untreated. Amblyopia is the condition in which vision does not develop fully in the brain due to disuse or misuse of one or both eyes. Typically, in high anisometropia, a contact lens in the eye with the stronger refractive error and/or glasses must be used to correct the refractive error. Commonly, infants and children with this condition refuse to wear the contact lens or glasses because the other eye sees normally. There are other problems in treating high anisometropia with glasses. One is aniseikonia, the condition of image size disparity between the two eyes. This causes difficulty for the brain of the affected person to fuse the images from the two eyes because the image from one eye is much larger than that from the other eye. This results in asthenopia (eye fatigue) and sometimes even diplopia. If the anisometropia is severe, significant amblyopia will result in the eye with the stronger refractive error and, if not treated at an early age, permanent and potentially severe vision loss will result.

In high isoametropia, contact lenses or glasses must likewise be used in order for normal vision to develop. Most children with isoametropia will wear glasses well because they cannot see well without them. By contrast, children with developmental delays, chromosomal abnormalities, autism, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and high isoametropia very commonly will not wear the needed refractive correction due to strong tactile aversion to anything touching their face or head. If the refractive error is high, significant bilateral (isoametropic) amblyopia will result and, if not treated at an early age, permanent and potentially severe vision loss will result.

PRK can normalize high refractive errors and potentially reduce or eliminate the amblyopia in affected children. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether children with high anisometropia or isoametropia with amblyopia that are nonresponsive to standard therapy and receive PRK develop better longterm visual acuity. Secondary outcomes are stability of refractive correction, and corneal health.

Being tested
Photorefractive keratectomy
Medical subject headings
Anisometropia, Hyperopia

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Photorefractive keratectomyProcedure or surgery

Study groups in NCT03610997
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Photorefractive keratectomyOtherThe children will undergo PRK in the affected eye(s) using previously derived formulas for PRK.
Receives: Procedure: Photorefractive keratectomy

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Visual acuity

    Snellen equivalent

    Measured: 10 years

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Refractive error

    cycloplegic refraction

    Measured: 10 years

  2. Corneal clarity

    slit lamp exam

    Measured: 10 years

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted2 Aug 2018
  2. Study start1 Jan 2001
  3. Primary completion1 Sep 2024
  4. Study completion1 Sep 2024

Why it stopped: Participants no longer receiving intervention

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Model description
Photorefractive Keratectomy
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
200 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT03610997
Sponsor's protocol ID
H-6604
Status last verified
Dec 2025
First submitted
19 Jul 2018
Last updated
8 Dec 2025
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
Yes
Individual data sharing
No

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Photorefractive keratectomy in people with Anisometropia and Hyperopia, run by Baylor College of Medicine at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 8 inclusion and 5 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: stopped early, as of the sponsor's last update on 8 Dec 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study was stopped early (reason given: Participants no longer receiving intervention). Results are not available in the source record.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Visual acuity (time frame: 10 years). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 8 Dec 2025.

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