Abstract
Purpose :
High myopia (over -6 D) is characterized with anatomical and functional changes in the retina and choroid. We aimed at examining the normal range of inter-ocular asymmetry in retinal sensitivity and its association with refractive error.
Methods :
The MAIA microperimeter (Macular Analyzer Integrity Assessment, CenterVue, Padova, Italy) was employed to determine retinal sensitivity in a sample of patients with high myopia without ocular complications (n=43; 15 females; mean age of 35.07 ± 13.31 years) and to compare these results with those of an age-matched control group of healthy subjects (n=45; 23 females; mean age of 39.9 ± 14.1 years). Both in the myopia and control group, no statistically significant inter-ocular differences were found in spherical equivalent and distance corrected visual acuity.
Results :
A summary of the absolute inter-ocular differences in retinal sensitivity in the myopic and healthy groups is shown in Figure 1. Overall, inter-ocular differences were larger in the myopic group than in the control group, although statistically significant differences were only encountered at the central location (p = 0.001). Statistically significant moderate negative correlations were found between refractive error and absolute inter-ocular differences in retinal sensitivity at most of the locations under examination (Figure 2), particularly towards the center of the retina, that is, retinal sensitivity asymmetry increased with refractive error.
Conclusions :
Highly-myopic eyes, even in the absence of complications, display a different range of inter-ocular asymmetry than normal eyes, and this asymmetry increases with refractive error. This finding is of relevance for the correct and early diagnosis of unilateral pathological conditions associated with high myopia.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.