A New Method to Analyze the Relative Corneal Refractive Power and Its Association to Myopic Progression Control With Orthokeratology

PURPOSE: We present a new method for analyzing relative corneal refractive power (RCRP) in children undergoing orthokeratology and explore its potential association to effective myopic control METHODS: A total of 55 children aged 8 to 12 years participated in the study. Axial growth was calculated as the difference in axial length before and 1 year after orthokeratology. Growth <0.30 mm was considered as effective control. Corneal topography was obtained before and 4 months after lens dispatch. The topography was divided into 36 10° slices and the maximal RCRP (mRCRP) in each was calculated and fitted into a model that integrated the effects of mean refractive power (M), corneal asymmetry (f1), and astigmatism (f2). The relationship between the probability of achieving effective control and the modulation of mRCRP was analyzed with logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 45 subjects achieved effective control, but for 10 the treatment was ineffective. The M-values were not different between the groups. Modulations of mRCRP were significantly larger in the effective than the ineffective group (1.17 vs. 0.64 diopters [D] for f1, P = 0.02; 0.85 vs. 0.35 D for f2, P = 0.03). The probability to achieve effective control increased with modulation of mRCRP (P = 0.02). With a peak mRCRP > 4.5 D, a subject had an above 80% chance to achieve effective control. CONCLUSIONS: The new method reveals that how the combination of spherical equivalent (SE), corneal asymmetry, and astigmatism determines modulation of the mRCRP and a large amplitude of modulation is associated with a higher probability of effective myopic control. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: Our finding enables clinicians to estimate the outcome early and provides new insights to lens design.