Assessment of macular retinal thickness and volume in normal eyes and highly myopic eyes with third-generation optical coherence tomography

Abstract

Purpose To compare the macular retinal thickness and macular volume between subjects with high myopia and non-myopia. Methods This prospective nonrandomized, comparative study recruited healthy subjects with high myopia subjects, defined as a spherical equivalence (SE) over À6 dioptres (D) or AXLX26.5 mm and the best corrected visual acuity better than 20/25, and subjects with non-myopia, defined as an with SE between 1.5D and À1.5 D and the BCVA better than 20/25. Optical coherence tomography was performed in each eye. Results Eighty high myopic eyes and 40 non-myopic eyes were included. The mean age of the high myopic group and non-myopia group was 29.6 and 27.5 years old, respectively. The mean refraction was -9.27 D in the high myopia group and -0.22 D in the non-myopia group. The high myopia group had significantly greater mean retinal thickness in the foveola and fovea 1 mm area than the non-myopia group (166 vs 149 lm, Po0.0001, 199 vs 188 lm, P ¼ 0.0063, respectively). However, the mean retinal thickness in the inner and outer macular area (superior, nasal, inferior, or temporal) of the high myopia group was significantly less than in the non-myopia group. In addition, the high myopia group had significantly smaller macular volume than the non-myopia group (Po0.0001). Conclusion This study demonstrated that the retinal thickness in individuals with high myopia is thicker in the foveola and fovea, but thinner in the inner and the outer macular region. The retina of individuals with high myopia had smaller macular volume than those with non-myopia.

Variations of OCT measurements corrected for the magnification effect according to axial length and refractive error in children

“…In contrast, we found thinner central macular thickness in shorter and more hyperopic eyes. These results are in agreement with those provided by other researchers in both adults 28 and children. 8 Wu et al 28 reported that RT in individuals with high myopia and long eyes was thicker in the foveola and fovea, but thinner in the inner and the outer macular regions.…”

“…These authors also showed smaller macular volume in subjects with high myopia. 28 Lim and Chun 8 also obtained thinner macular thickness and lower macular volumes in high myopic children. It has been suggested that these relations would be owing to the mechanical globe elongation linked with myopia, resulting in retinal stretching and thinning.…”

“…Furthermore, when the database was built, the manufacturers did not take into account the e®ect of AL and refractive error, although several studies have shown the signi¯cant e®ect of both parameters on OCT measurements, 2,4,8,26,28,32 regardless of age. In addition, a magni¯cation correction is not provided by the Cirrus HD-OCT manufacturers.…”

“…However, some previous pediatric studies have shown that RNFL thickness was not associated with age. [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] It seems that the onset of decrease in the RFNL with age does not appear to be signi¯cant until the age of 15 years. 33 We consider, as Huynh et al 34 suggested, that the growth of macular, RNFL and optic disc parameters is almost complete at birth or soon after it.…”

Optical Coherence Tomography Findings in Diabetic Macular Edema

“…Retinal thickness in highly myopic eyes (>6D) was higher in the fovea, but lower in the inner and outer regions compared to non-myopic eyes in a study with age-matched groups (Wu et al, 2008). Thus it may be an indication for change in retinal contour of highly myopic eyes and care is needed while interpreting macular pathology on OCT scans of such eyes.…”