Longitudinal changes in macular retinal layer thickness in pediatric populations: Myopic vs non-myopic eyes

Abstract

Knowledge of the normal in vivo thickness of the retina, and its individual layers in pediatric populations is important for diagnosing and monitoring retinal disorders, and for understanding the eye’s normal development and the impact of eye growth and refractive error such as myopia (short-sightedness) upon retinal morphology. In this prospective, observational longitudinal study, total retinal thickness (and individual retinal layer thickness) and the changes in retinal morphology occurring over an 18-month period were examined in 101 children with a range of refractive errors. In childhood, the presence of myopia was associated with subtle but statistically significant (p<0.05) changes in the topographical thickness distribution of macular retinal thickness (and retinal layer thickness), characterised by a thinning of the parafoveal retina (and parafoveal or perifoveal thinning in most outer and inner retinal layers). The parafoveal retina was on average 6 μm thinner in myopic children. However, over 18 months, longitudinal changes in retinal thickness and individual layers were of small magnitude (average changes of less than 2 μm over 18 months), indicative of a high degree of stability in retinal morphology in healthy adolescent eyes, despite significant eye growth over this same period of time. This provides the first detailed longitudinal assessment of macula retinal layer morphology in adolescence, and delivers new normative data on expected changes in retinal structure over time and associated with myopia during this period of childhood development.

Prevalence and Associations of Fundus Tessellation Among Junior Students From Greater Beijing

“…[24][25][26] In some recent studies, the retina in the parafoveal regions was significantly thinner in myopic subjects than in nonmyopic individuals, indicating that during the early stage of myopia progression, choroidal thinning occurs first and is followed by a retinal thinning in the perifoveal area, which then may progress centripetally. 27,28 Six participants of our nonmyopic subgroup had a grade 2 fundus tessellation ( Table 1). Their mean refractive error was À0.06 6 0.36 D as compared to À0.10 6 0.71 D in the other nonmyopic individuals.…”

Retinal oxygen saturation in 1461 healthy children aged 7–19 and its associated factors

“…Thus, the oxygen saturation values might continue increasing in adolescence until reaching adult levels, which may be attributed to local and systemic growth and physiological development during adolescence, for example, the increasing thickness of some retinal layers with age during childhood (Read et al. , ). In addition, the pigment of the eye fundus has a significant influence on the measurement of oxygen saturation (Hammer et al.…”

Optical coherence tomography in paediatric clinical practice

“…Chen et al deduced that despite the tendency for a slightly greater foveal thickness, Chinese children with moderately‐to‐highly myopic eyes had a decreased average macular thickness and volume in comparison with emmetropic children. The perifoveal area has been established as the zone of greatest thinning in myopic children . Similarly, OCT analysis of RNFL thickness of 104 children in Hong Kong showed a significant inverse relationship with the axial length of the eye .…”

“…As established through OCT imaging, there is a significant negative correlation between axial length and retinal thickness . Chen et al deduced that despite the tendency for a slightly greater foveal thickness, Chinese children with moderately‐to‐highly myopic eyes had a decreased average macular thickness and volume in comparison with emmetropic children.…”