Patterns of changes in morphometric parameters of macular retina in different variants of clinical course of acquired myopia

Abstract

Purpose. To study morphometric parameters of macular retina in myopic eyes with different degrees of severity of atrophic myopic maculopathy, to find out their dependence on ocular axial length and age of patients.Material and methods. In the study 3 patient groups were examined. The main group consisted of 143 patients (286 eyes) with acquired axial myopia with complications in the posterior pole of the eye. In this group, 3 subgroups were distinguished according to the manifestation severity of myopic changes in the posterior pole of the eye. The comparative group consisted of 34 patients (68 eyes) with acquired uncomplicated axial myopia. The control group included 13 people (26 eyes) with emmetropia without ocular pathology. All groups of patients were comparable in age. In addition to standard methods of study, optical coherence tomography of the macula (Cirrus HD-OCT 5000, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Germany) was performed for all patients. We studied the macular neuroepithelium thickness, the macular neuroepithelium volume, the ganglion cell layer thickness, the choroidal thickness in the center of the fovea. Results. The statistical analysis allowed to identify the characteristic patterns of changes in parameters of macular retina and choroid with an increase of the ocular axial length and the age of patients. The initial subclinical morphometric changes of macula, characteristic of the «debut» of the formation of myopic maculopathy were revealed. They, in particular, were: decrease in the index of the ganglion cell layer in the superior- and inferior-temporal sectors of the macular map from 76 µm and less; decrease in the average value of the ganglion cell layer thickness from 76.5 µm and less. Conclusion. The choroidal thickness decreases with the increase of the age of patients. The progression in the severity of atrophic myopic maculopathy is accompanied by a smoothing of the profile of macular retina. The ganglion cell layer thickness in the temporal region significantly decreases within the progression of atrophic myopic maculopathy. These data may allow us to work out methods for a prediction of the development of atrophic myopic maculopathy.

Keywords

• atrophic myopic maculopathy, acquired axial myopia, optical coherence tomography