title: Choroidal thickness does not predict visual acuity in young high myopes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the influence of choroidal thickness (CT) on visual acuity (VA) in young persons with extremely high myopia.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a case-control study of young men with extremely high myopia and controls with emmetropia recruited from a mandatory medical eye review for employment purposes. Retinal and choroidal imaging was performed using enhanced depth imaging (EDI) spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We included 105 extremely high myopic subjects with spherical equivalent (SE) -10 dioptre (D) or worse and 50 emmetropic subjects with SE less than 0.5 D. The mean SE was -11.56 ± 2.04 D (range, -10 to -23 D) for myopic group and 0.14 ± 0.25 D for emmetropic group. The mean age of included myopic and emmetropic subjects was 21.51 ± 1.22 years and 21.96 ± 0.89 years, respectively. In the univariate analysis, subfoveal CT was significantly associated with best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) (β = -0.039, p = 0.015). However, in the multiple linear regression analysis, after adjusting for SE and presence of any pathological myopia lesions such as posterior staphyloma, lacquer cracks or chorioretinal atrophy, subfoveal CT was not independently associated with BCVA (p = 0.937).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Extremely high myopic eyes had thinner choroid, but CT was not an independent predictor of VA. Other factors related to myopia are likely responsible for the diminished VA in young extremely high myopic eyes.
authors.affiliation: Singapore Eye Research Institute and Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore, Singapore.|Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore and National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Preeti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Singapore Eye Research Institute and Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore, Singapore.|Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore and National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore.|Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Carol Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.affiliation: Singapore Eye Research Institute and Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore, Singapore.|Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore and National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore.|Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Seang-Mei
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Saw
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore and National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.affiliation: DSO National Laboratories, Defence Medical and Environmental Research Institute, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Mellisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: DSO National Laboratories, Defence Medical and Environmental Research Institute, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Adeline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Vision Performance Centre, Military Medical Institute, Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Singapore Eye Research Institute and Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore, Singapore.|Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore and National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore.|Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Chui Ming Gemmy
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.affiliation: Singapore Eye Research Institute and Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore, Singapore.|Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore and National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore.|Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.|Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Tien Yin
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Singapore Eye Research Institute and Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore, Singapore.|Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore and National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore.|Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Ching-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002829:Choroid / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D058453:Emmetropia; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D047728:Myopia, Degenerative / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009929:Organ Size; D012160:Retina / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014792:Visual Acuity; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: choroidal thickness; enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography; high myopes; visual acuity