title: Axial length increases and related changes in highly myopic normal eyes with myopic complications in fellow eyes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether the axial length (AL) in highly myopic normal adult eyes with myopic complications in the fellow eyes increases significantly during a 1-year interval and to investigate the relationships between the changes in the AL and different ocular parameters.
  
  
  METHODS
  The medical records of 20 highly myopic normal eyes whose fellow eyes had myopic complications were reviewed. The AL, subfoveal choroidal thickness, height of a posterior staphyloma, and length of the retinal pigment epithelium from the fovea to 3-mm superior, inferior, nasal, and temporal retina were measured twice at an interval of approximately 1 year. The changes in these ocular parameters and their correlations were investigated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The AL increased, the choroid became thinner (both P < 0.001), the superior (P < 0.05) and temporal (P < 0.01) staphyloma height increased, and the superior and temporal retinal pigment epithelial length increased (both P < 0.01). All the changes were significant. Stepwise analyses indicated that the factor most associated with the increase in the AL was the increase in the superior retinal pigment epithelial length (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that the AL can increase significantly in highly myopic normal adult eyes during a 1-year interval, and the increase in the posterior staphyloma height is the most likely cause for the increased AL.
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
authors: Akiko
authors: A
authors: Takahashi
authors: Yasuki
authors: Y
authors: Ito
authors: Yuko
authors: Y
authors: Iguchi
authors: Tetsuhiro R
authors: TR
authors: Yasuma
authors: Kohei
authors: K
authors: Ishikawa
authors: Hiroko
authors: H
authors: Terasaki
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D058452:Axial Length, Eye / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002829:Choroid / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D047728:Myopia, Degenerative / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology; D055213:Retinal Pigment Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence