title: Myopia, axial length, and OCT characteristics of the macula in Singaporean children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the associations between macular volume and thickness, as assessed by optic coherence tomography (OCT), with refraction and axial length (AL) in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 104 Chinese school children (51 girls and 53 boys) 11 to 12 years of age were randomly selected from one school during the 2005 examination in the Singapore Cohort Study of the Risk Factors for Myopia (SCORM). Cycloplegic autorefraction was performed to obtain refraction (defined as spherical equivalent [SE]) and ultrasound biometry performed to obtain the AL. Macular volume and thickness were then measured (StratusOCT3; Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children with moderate myopia (SE at least -3.0 D) tended to have smaller total macular volume and thinner quadrant-specific macular thickness (except in the inferior and superior inner quadrants), followed by children with low myopia (-0.5<or=SE<-3.0 D), compared with children with no myopia (SE>-0.5 D). Total macular volume was positively associated with SE (beta=1.58, 95% CI, 0.84 to 2.32, standardized beta=0.14, P<0.001) and negatively associated with AL (beta=-1.20, 95% CI, -1.62 to -0.79, standardized beta=0.45, P<0.001) in multiple linear regression models controlling for age and gender.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In children, increasing axial myopia was associated with reduced macular volume and thickness. These findings suggest that early anatomic changes may be present in the retinas of children with axial myopia.
authors.affiliation: Singapore Eye Research Institute, and Department of Community, Occupational and Family Medicine, National University of Singapore, Republic of Singapore.
authors.forename: Hai-Dong
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Gus
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gazzard
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fong
authors.forename: Tin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aung
authors.forename: Sek Tien
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Hoh
authors.forename: Seng-Chee
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Loon
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Healey
authors.forename: Donald T H
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Tien-Yin
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Seang-Mei
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Saw
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology; D001837:Body Weights and Measures; D002648:Child; D005123:Eye / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008266:Macula Lutea / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D009216:Myopia / Q000150:complications* / Q000208:ethnology; D012029:Refraction, Ocular; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence