The thickness changes of retina in high myopia patients during the third trimester of pregnancy: a pilot study

OBJECTIVES: To observe and compare the difference in retinal thickness using optical coherence tomography (OCT) between patients with high myopia (HM) during the third trimester of pregnancy and age-matched HM non-pregnant women. METHODS: A case-control study. A total of 39 eyes from 39 HM women in the third trimester (study group) and 50 eyes of 50 age-matched non-pregnant women with HM (control group) were included. All subjects underwent SD-OCT examination. The built-in software was used to measure the retinal thickness in macular region. The data from two groups were compared using independent-samples t test. RESULTS: Among the 89 subjects in this study, the mean gestational age of the study group was 35.09 ± 2.44 weeks, and the average age was 32.24 ± 3.75 years. The average age of the control group was 34.04 ± 7.19 years old. Compared with the control group, the average thickness of parafoveal area, and the average thickness of parafoveal superior, inferior, temporal quadrants of the superficial retina and the average thickness of the foveal and parafoveal of the superficial retina were significantly decreased in the study group (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the average thickness of all quadrants of the retina in the parafoveal area except the nasal quadrant were significantly decreased in the study group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In this observational study, the retinal thickness of patients with high myopia during the third trimester of pregnancy was thinner than that of non-pregnant women with age-matched high myopia.