Abstract
BackgroundTo explore the changes in thickness in different areas and layers of the macula under different refractive conditions.MethodsConsecutive participants were enrolled in the study. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) images were obtained using a spectral-domain system. We studied the relationships of the full, inner and outer retinal thicknesses of the fovea, parafovea and perifovea relative to the spherical equivalent (SE) and axial length (AL).ResultsWe included 107 eyes; the analysis revealed that the men had thicker foveas (man vs women: 236.70 ± 18.97 μm vs 247.25 ± 16.70 μm P = 0.002) and inner parafoveas (man vs women: 128.35 ± 8.80 μm vs 122.78 ± 6.75 μm P < 0.001) than the women had. Full foveal thickness was not correlated with AL or SE (all P > 0.05), whereas the full para- and perifoveal thicknesses had significant negative correlations with AL (r = –0.243 P = 0.006 and r = –0.446 P < 0.001, for para- and peri- respectively) and positive correlations with SE (r = 0.346 P < 0.001 and r = 0.464 P < 0.001, for para- and peri- respectively). Regarding the layers, the thickness of the inner layer of the fovea increased with the degree of myopia. The average inner and outer layer thicknesses of the para- and perifovea decreased with the degree of myopia (with the SE para, b = 0.307, peri b = 0.457; with the AL para, b = –0.266, peri b = –0.454),with the perifoveal thicknesses decreasing more rapidly.ConclusionsMacular thickness changes with the degree of myopia; however, the different areas and different layers change in different manners.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12886-015-0080-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
To explore the changes in thickness in different areas and layers of the macula under different refractive conditions
Macular thickness was evaluated by Fourier-domain Optical coherence tomography (OCT); the analysis focused on the thicknesses of different areas and layers of the macula and on potential correlations with the axial length (AL) and spherical equivalent (SE)
Our study found that macular thickness changes with the degree of myopia; the changes differ according to the macular regions and layers
Summary
To explore the changes in thickness in different areas and layers of the macula under different refractive conditions. Myopia has a high prevalence of approximately 80 % in Asia and approximately 25 % in other countries [1,2,3]. The retina becomes atrophic and degenerates in myopic eyes, at the posterior pole [4], and these changes are associated with a high frequency of macular abnormalities [5, 6]. As a result, monitoring the macular thickness in myopic eyes is of importance. Optical coherence tomography (OCT), which provides high-resolution retinal images, measures retinal thickness with high repeatability [7]
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