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Axial length, corneal power both contribute to myopic errors
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In most medium and highly myopic eyes, both axial length and corneal refractive power contributed to the refractive error, according to a study in Hungary. The study authors found that in low myopia and hyperopia a greater percentage of eyes had either purely corneal or purely axial refractive errors.
G. Barcsay and colleagues at Semmelweis University in Budapest measured the axial length of one eye each in 131 people with different refractions. Eyes were classified into five groups based on the grade of their ametropia. Then a classification scheme was used to determine whether the origin of the ametropia was due to corneal power or axial length.
In the hyperopic group, purely corneal refractive error was found in 8.6%, pure axial error in 62.8% and a combined origin in 28.6% of the eyes. In the low myopic group, these numbers were 20.9%, 29.2% and 45.8% respectively. In the medium and high myopic groups, no pure corneal myopia was found. Pure axial myopia was found in 16.7%, and combined origin in 83.3%.
The study is published in the European Journal of Ophthalmology.