Thickness changes in the fovea and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer depend on the degree of myopia

To investigate changes in the thickness of the fovea and peripapillary RNFL associated with myopia.

Sixty-five Korean adults (for a total of 130 eyes) between 23 and 26 years of age were selected as test subjects. Thirty-eight test subjects were male, and 27 were female. Subjects with glaucoma or other identified ocular diseases were excluded. Patients whose manifest refraction measurement values ranged between 0 to -2D were classified as group one (emmetropia and low myopia), those between -2 to -5D were classified as group two (moderate myopia), and those more than -5D were classified as group three (high myopia). Using the OCT, the thickness of the fovea and peripapillary RNFL were measured for every subject.

The thicknesses of the fovea for each of three groups were 142.16 +/- 8.99 microm in group one (45 eyes), 153.58 +/- 17.63 microm in group two (43 eyes) and 158.86 +/- 11.93 microm in group three (28 eyes). The data showed significant differences in fovea thickness between the groups. The average thicknesses of the peripapillary RNFL for each of three groups were 113.29 +/- 10.80 microm in group one, 103.85 +/- 14.48 microm in group two and 100.74 +/- 9.15 microm in group three. A statistically significant difference was found between group one and the other groups (p < 0.05).

As the level of myopia increased, the thickness of the fovea also increased, while the thickness of the peripapillary RNFL decreased. Therefore, when interpreting OCT results in the clinic, careful consideration should be given to various changes associated with myopia.