Prevalence and Associations of Fundus Tessellation Among Junior Students From Greater Beijing

To determine the prevalence of fundus tessellation and associations with ocular and systemic parameters among junior students from Greater Beijing.

The school-based study included 1443 individuals with a mean age of 12.4 ± 0.5 years (range: 9-16 years). All participants underwent a comprehensive ophthalmic examination and an interview. Fundus tessellation, defined as variation in the visibility of large choroidal vessels, was differentiated into three grades.

The prevalence and degree of fundus tessellation were 688/1430 (48.1%; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 45.5%, 50.7%) and 0.54 ± 0.61 (median, 0.00; range, 0-3), respectively. In multivariable regression analysis, a higher degree of fundus tessellation was associated with reduced subfoveal choroidal thickness (P < 0.001; beta, -0.02; odds ratio [OR], 0.98; 95% CI: 0.98, 0.99) and longer axial length (P < 0.001; beta, 0.23; OR, 1.25; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.43). Subfoveal choroidal thickness decreased from 299 ± 61 μm (95% CI: 293, 304) in eyes without fundus tessellation to 246 ± 57 μm (95% CI: 241, 251), 197 ± 43 μm (95% CI: 187, 207), and 131 ± 30 μm (95% CI: 93, 168) in eyes with grade 1, 2, and 3 fundus tessellation, respectively. A higher degree of peripapillary fundus tessellation was associated with reduced subfoveal choroidal thickness (P < 0.001; beta, -0.02; OR, 0.98; 95% CI: 0.98, 0.99) and younger age at myopia onset (P = 0.008; beta, 0.41; OR, 1.51; 95% CI: 1.11, 2.04).

The prevalence of fundus tessellation is relatively high in Chinese teenagers. As in adults, the degree of fundus tessellation is a surrogate for choroidal thickness in teenagers. Marked fundus tessellation indicates a leptochoroid and is associated with earlier myopia onset.