title: The foveal position relative to the optic disc and the retinal nerve fiber layer thickness profile in myopia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness profiles according to the foveal position relative to the optic disc in myopia
  
  
  METHODS
  In 164 eyes of 164 healthy myopic subjects, the disc-foveal angle was defined as the angle between a horizontal line through the disc center and the line connecting the fovea and disc center in fundus photographs overlaid on Cirrus-HD optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. The quadrant/clock-hour based peripapillary RNFL thickness and differences between the inferior and superior (I-S) quadrant RNFL thicknesses were measured with OCT. RNFL thickness profiles were determined according to the disc-foveal angle and axial length (AL).
  
  
  RESULTS
  As the disc-foveal angle increased (i.e., the fovea becomes more inferior to the optic disc), the superior RNFL decreased significantly (P = 0.003), whereas the inferior RNFL and I-S difference increased (P = 0.010 and P < 0.001, respectively). As the AL increased, the average and temporal RNFLs increased significantly (P = 0.013 and P < 0.001, respectively), and I-S difference was not affected (P = 0.231). The disc-foveal angle was significantly decreased with the distance between the fovea and the optic disc (P = 0.033). In multiple linear regression analysis, the disc-foveal angle was found to be a significant factor related to I-S differences, superior and inferior RNFL (all, P < 0.05) after adjusting for age, disc area, and AL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The intrinsic foveal position relative to the optic disc was an essential determinant of normal RNFL thickness in myopia. In particular, it was associated with the vertical asymmetry of RNFL distribution.
authors: St. Vincent's Hospital, Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors: Jin A
authors: JA
authors: Choi
authors: Jung-Sub
authors: JS
authors: Kim
authors: Hae-Young Lopilly
authors: HY
authors: Park
authors: Hana
authors: H
authors: Park
authors: Chan Kee
authors: CK
authors: Park
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005584:Fovea Centralis / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009216:Myopia / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000473:pathology*; D012029:Refraction, Ocular; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*; D014792:Visual Acuity
keywords: RNFL distribution; disc–foveal angle; myopia; retinal nerve fiber layer