Peripapillary choroidal thickness in eyes with high myopia

OBJECTIVE: To investigate characteristics of peripapillary choroidal thickness (PCT) in Chinese patients with myopia without myopic maculopathy. METHODS: We retrospectively assessed 95 Chinese patients (95 eyes) with myopia without myopic maculopathy, who had visited the myopia clinic of Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital. Thirteen patients were excluded; the remaining 82 patients were divided into Groups 1 (spherical equivalent [SE], −0.5 to −6.0 D; axial length, 24–26 mm; n = 26), 2 (SE, −6.0 to −10.0 D; axial length, 26 to 28 mm; n = 34), and 3 (SE, ≥−10.0 D; axial length, ≥28 mm; n = 22). Enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography was used to measure PCT in inferior, superior, nasal, and temporal quadrants. Continuous variables were compared using one-way analysis of variance. Associations of PCT with SE and axial length were analyzed by Pearson correlation. RESULTS: PCT decreased with increasing SE and axial length in all quadrants. For each group, PCT was thickest in the temporal quadrant and thinnest in the inferior quadrant. PCT significantly differed between Groups 1 and 3 in superior, nasal, and temporal quadrants. CONCLUSIONS: PCT decreased with increasing SE and axial length. PCT was thickest in the temporal quadrant and thinnest in the inferior quadrant in Chinese patients with myopia.