Subfoveal choroidal thickness versus foveal thickness in patients with myopia

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this study was to explore the influence of myopia on the foveal thickness and its correlation with subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT), the axial length (AL), and spherical equivalent (SD) in patients with myopia. Patients and methods We included 120 patients with myopia, and their ages ranged from 25 to 35 years. Moreover, 30 age-matched and sex-matched healthy emmetropic individuals were included as a control group. All participants underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination which included best-corrected visual acuity test, slit-lamp examination, Goldman applanation tonometry, indirect ophthalmoscopy, Axial length (AL) measurement (PacScan 300A, Sonomedescalon Inc., New York, USA), and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (Retinascan RS-3000 Advance, NIDEK, Gamagori, Japan). Results Foveal thickness was statistically higher in patients with myopia than that of healthy emmetropic participants, whereas SFCT was statistically lower in the patients with myopia than that of emmetropic individuals. Foveal thickness showed positive correlation with SD and AL, but it showed negative correlation with visual acuity (VA) and SFCT. SFCT showed significant positive correlation with the VA, but it showed negative correlation with SD, AL, and foveal thickness. Multiregression analysis showed that the most important determinant of foveal thickness in this study was AL and SFCT (β=0.35 and −0.66, respectively, and P Conclusion With the increase in myopia degree and AL, the average foveal thickness increased and SFCT decreased. SFCT and AL are the most important predictive factors of VA in myopic eyes.