Myopia, axial length, and OCT characteristics of the macula in Singaporean children.
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.
Luo
Hai-Dong
HD
Singapore Eye Research Institute, and Department of Community, Occupational and Family Medicine, National University of Singapore, Republic of Singapore.
Gazzard
Gus
G
Fong
Allan
A
Aung
Tin
T
Hoh
Sek Tien
ST
Loon
Seng-Chee
SC
Healey
Paul
P
Tan
Donald T H
DT
Wong
Tien-Yin
TY
Saw
Seang-Mei
SM
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