Issue: April 2016
April 20, 2016
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Optic disc, macular changes common in highly myopic young Asian adults

Issue: April 2016
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Changes in the optic disc and macula were prevalent in highly myopic eyes in a young Asian adult population, a study found.

Perspective from Roberto Warman, MD

Investigators prospectively analyzed 593 highly myopic subjects and a comparator group of 156 emmetropic subjects. All subjects were men. Mean age was 21.1 years in the myopic group and 21.5 years in the emmetropic group.

Subjects underwent medical interviews, ophthalmic examinations and color fundus photography. The photographs were used to determine the presence of optic disc and macular lesions.

Mean spherical equivalent refraction was –8.87 D in the myopic group and 0.40 D in the emmetropic group; the between-group difference was statistically significant (P < .001).

Axial length was 27.45 mm in the myopic group and 23.83 mm in the control group; the difference was significant (P < .001).

Optic disc tilt, peripapillary atrophy, posterior staphyloma, chorioretinal atrophy and myopic maculopathy were significantly more prevalent in the myopic group (P < .001).

Older age, decreased choroidal thickness and greater axial length were associated with myopic maculopathy, which was found in 8.3% of highly myopic eyes.

For each year of increasing age, the risk of developing myopic maculopathy increased by 1.66 times (P = .001), and for each 1 mm increase in axial length, the risk increased by 1.52 times (P = .02). Myopic maculopathy development was also associated with decreased choroidal thickness (P < .001). – by Matt Hasson

Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.