Axial length, corneal radius may predict myopia risk
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Key takeaways:
- Axial length/corneal radius predicted overall myopia risk most accurately.
- Posterior vitreous depth predicted classification of high risk versus low risk most accurately.
Posterior vitreous depth developed differently in children who were high- vs. low-risk for myopia, while axial length/corneal radius most accurately identified overall myopia risk, according to recent research.
“We have designed a longitudinal study entitled Preventing Myopia: Investigating Contributing Factors to Nearsightedness in Children (PICNIC) with the goal of identifying specific factors that affect retinal image quality in young children and the processing of such retinal images, as well as their interactions,” Fuensanta A. Vera-Diaz, OD, PhD, FAAO, from the New England College of Optometry, and colleagues wrote in a study published in the journal, Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics.
Using data from the PICNIC longitudinal study, the researchers classified 46 children, 26 of which were female, as either high risk (HR) or low risk (LR) for myopia based on structural, functional, behavioral and heritable factors.
The researchers found a significant difference in age between groups, with children in the HR group being younger than the LR group.
In addition to age, central corneal thickness, anterior chamber depth, posterior vitreous depth and corneal radius also significantly predicted cycloplegic refractive error in linear regression models.
Axial length/corneal radius (AXL/CR) ratio significantly predicted cycloplegic refractive error, and each 1.00 D decrease in hyperopia was associated with a 0.97 mm elongation in posterior vitreous depth (PVD) as well as a 0.43 mm increase in corneal radius.
On linear regression models, PVD predicted refractive error most accurately, with each 1 mm increase in PVD lowering hyperopia by 1.18 D.
PVD was found to develop differently in children at high- vs. low-risk risk for myopia, but the AXL/CR ratio was identified as the primary metric that predicts risk.
“The results of this longitudinal study may be used to design future treatments and clinical trials for the prevention and control of myopia,” Vera-Diaz and colleagues wrote. “It is important to note that even though predictability of myopia is reported in this manuscript, the design of the PICNIC study is aimed at determining the risk factors that will help us shed light on the mechanisms of myopia development, not necessarily determine the best predictive tool for myopia, which may be different.”
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