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Relationship of axial length and retinal vascular caliber in children
Ning Cheung1, Gabriella Tikellis, Seang Mei Saw
1Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Insights
In children, longer axial length does not correlate with retinal vascular caliber once ocular magnification is accounted for. This finding suggests previous associations in adults may be due to magnification effects.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Pediatric Research
- Vascular Biology
Background:
- Previous research in adults indicates a link between increased axial length and reduced arteriolar caliber.
- The influence of ocular magnification on this relationship in children remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between axial length and retinal vascular caliber in children.
- To determine if ocular magnification influences the observed relationship.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 767 children aged 7-9 years.
- Retinal vascular calibers were measured using a computer program from retinal photographs.
- Ocular magnification was corrected using the Bengtsson formula, with standardized refraction and ocular biometry performed.
Main Results:
- Before magnification correction, longer axial length was significantly associated with narrower arteriolar and venular calibers.
- After correcting for ocular magnification, these associations were no longer statistically significant.
- The change in arteriolar caliber was 0.44 microm (P = .31) and for venular caliber was 0.70 microm (P = .25).
Conclusions:
- No significant association exists between axial length and retinal vascular caliber in children after adjusting for ocular magnification.
- The findings suggest that previously observed associations in older adults may be artifacts of ocular magnification differences.
- This study highlights the importance of accounting for ocular magnification in pediatric research on ocular vasculature.
Purpose:
Previous studies in older adults suggest that longer axial length is associated with narrower arteriolar caliber. In this study, we re-examined this relationship in a cohort of children, while controlling for the effects of ocular magnification.
Design:
Cross-sectional study of 767 children aged 7 to 9 years.
Methods:
Retinal vascular calibers were measured from retinal photographs using a computer-based program. Ocular magnification was corrected using the Bengtsson formula. Standardized examination of refraction and ultrasound ocular biometry was performed for all children.
Results:
In models that adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, body mass index, blood pressure, and birth weight, longer axial length was associated strongly with narrower retinal arteriolar caliber (3.18-microm decrease per standard deviation increase in axial length; P < .001) and venular caliber (4.62-microm decrease standard deviation increase in axial length; P < .001) before correction for ocular magnification. However, after correction, these associations no longer were significant (0.44 microm; P = .31, change for arteriolar caliber; and 0.70 microm; P = .25, for venular caliber).
Conclusions:
Our study in children found no association between axial length and retinal vascular caliber after correcting for ocular magnification, suggesting that the previously reported association was likely related to differences in ocular magnification.
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