Abstract
Purpose :
To explore the subfoveal scleral, choroidal and retinal thickness in healthy Chinese children with different refractive levels.
Methods :
Cross-sectional study.A total of 810 children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years were included. Each participant underwent a series of comprehensive ocular examinations, including swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) and autorefraction examinations after cycloplegia. The thicknesses of the sclera, choroid and retina were measured at the central fovea manually, and each was compared among children with different refractive levels. The independent factors of each layer were analyzed using stepwise multiple linear regression.
Results :
The mean age of the 810 participants was 12.8±3.1 years. The mean subfoveal scleral thickness (SST), subfoveal choroidal thickness (SCT) and subfoveal retinal thickness (SRT) were 524±57 μm, 195±49 μm and 224±19 μm, respectively. Compared with emmetropes and hyperopes, myopes had a significantly thinner sclera and choroid (P<0.001). No significant difference (mean difference < 1 μm) was observed between emmetropes and hyperopes in the sclera, while in the choroid, a meaningful difference existed (mean difference 14 μm), however, it was not statistically significant. There was no significant difference in SRT between the myopes and emmetropes or between the emmetropes and hyperopes. Among the myopic children, the SST and SCT decreased as the diopters of myopia decreased, while the SRT remained relatively stable. The SST (standard β=0.110) and SCT (standard β=0.063) as well as age, gender, and axial length (standard β=-0.673) were independently associated with spherical equivalent refraction (SER) in the regression model (R2=0.699, P<0.001). Older age, myopic-shifted SER, thicker SCT and thinner SRT were independently associated with a thinner SST (regression model: SST=547- 0.15×SCT+0.24×SRT+8.8×SER-1.85×age, R2=0.168, P<0.001).
Conclusions :
During the early development of myopia, the thinning of the scleral and choroidal tissue in the macular subfoveal region might occur earlier than the retinal thickness. Subfoveal scleral thickness was more responsible for the variation of refractive error than the thickness of the choroid and retina. Age, refractive error, and subfoveal choroidal and retinal thicknesses were the independent related factors of scleral thickness .
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.