Abstract
Purpose :
It is widely acknowledged that myopia is one of the major risk factors for glaucoma, but the precise mechanism for this relationship remains uncertain. Examining the retinal sublayers with optical coherence tomography (OCT) in children with myopia holds the potential to elucidate the underlying causes of glaucomatous retinal ganglion cell damage in myopic eyes. The goal of this study was to investigate the distribution and associated factors of parapapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (ppRNFL) thickness and ganglion cell complex (GCC) thickness in children with myopia.
Methods :
We enrolled 14 cases (28 eyes) of children aged 8 to 10 years who visited our clinic for myopia control treatment using orthokeratology. The thickness of the parapapillary RNFL and the macular GCC were measured using swept-source OCT. Correlations between these thickness parameters and factors such as age, gender, eye laterality, best corrected visual acuity, axial length, and intraocular pressure (IOP) were examined using multivariate linear regression analysis.
Results :
The age of the participants was 9.5 ± 1.0 years (mean ± standard deviation), with 10 cases being female. Axial length was 24.4 ± 0.8 mm, logMAR visual acuity was -0.05 ± 0.07, and IOP was 15.8 ± 2.4 mmHg. Mean GCC thickness was 107.9 ± 6.3 μm (range: 94.1–119.2 μm), and ppRNFL thickness measured 104.7 ± 7.3 μm (range: 87.5–117.9 μm). There was a significant correlation between gender and both GCC and ppRNFL thicknesses (females > males, P = 0.0401, P = 0.0186). IOP showed a significant negative correlation only with ppRNFL (β = -1.518, P = 0.0286). IOP also exhibited a negative correlation with GCC, but it did not reach statistical significance (β = -1.1374, P = 0.0715). No significant correlation was observed between axial length and either GCC or ppRNFL thickness (P=0.2439 , 0.8996, respectively).
Conclusions :
In children with myopia, male sex and high IOP were associated with thinner GCC and RNFL thickness. Knowledge of these associations and the distributions of GCC and ppRNFL thickness in children with myopia may contribute to better understanding of the etiology and facilitate the early detection of glaucoma in myopic subjects.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.