Abstract
Purpose :
The assessment of axial length (AXL) is a central element in myopia management. The aim of this study was to evaluate age-depending AXL and age-depending AXL growth in a German cohort in comparison to other publications.
Methods :
Right eyes of 8232 subjects aged between two and 91 (30 ± 20) years from 63 German test centers were evaluated retrospectively. Measurements were obtained using the Myopia Master® (OCULUS OPTIKGERÄTE GMBH, Germany). Refractive groups were divided using non-cycloplegic spherical equivalent: myopic (63 %), emmetropic (28 %) and hyperopic (9 %). AXL was analyzed in each refractive groups as a function of age. Furthermore, 822 longitudinal measurements were extracted to analyze AXL progression.
Results :
Between four and nine years of age, AXL of emmetropes increased from 21.98 mm to 23.26 mm and continued growing until adult AXL was reached with 23.75 mm already at the age of 13. The difference in AXL of emmetropes between four and 17 years was +0.21 ± 0.12 mm compared to the publication of Rauscher (2021). AXL growth in five-year-olds was faster in myopes (0.33 mm/year) than in emmetropes (0.25 mm/year). Decrease in AXL growth to 0.1 mm/year is reached earlier in emmetropes (12 years) than in myopes (16 years), just as subsequent decrease to 0.03 mm/year (emmetropes: 19 years, myopes: 32 years). However, AXL growth of emmetropes between five and 17 years was similar to the findings of Truckenbrod (2021) with a mean difference of +0.03 ± 0.01 mm/year.
Conclusions :
The results describe age-depending development of AXL in a large German cohort with a representative number of children and adolescents (n = 3877). With that, the basis for normative data of age-depending AXL in Germany can be extended. The analysis of longitudinal AXL data is an extension to previous publications and represents the basis for the establishment of normative data, to assess AXL growth from multiple measurements.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.