Longitudinal Macular Retinal and Choroidal Microvasculature Changes in High Myopia

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Retinal Imaging
• Vascular Biology

Background:

• High myopia is associated with structural changes in the eye.
• Understanding microvascular changes in myopia is crucial for predicting disease progression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate longitudinal changes in macular retinal and choroidal microvasculature.
• To compare these changes between healthy and highly myopic eyes.

Main Methods:

• Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) was used to image 71 eyes (32 high myopia, 39 healthy).
• Capillary density (CD) in superficial (SCP), deep (DCP), and choriocapillaris (CC) was measured over at least 3 visits.
• Linear mixed models analyzed CD change rates, with axial length (AL) as a covariate.

Main Results:

• Highly myopic eyes showed significantly faster whole image CD loss (-1.44%/year) and DCP outer ring CD loss (-1.67%/year) than healthy eyes.
• Baseline axial length was negatively correlated with the rate of CD loss in the whole image and DCP outer ring.
• No significant differences in CD reduction rates were observed in the SCP and CC between groups.

Conclusions:

• The deep capillary plexus (DCP) exhibits accelerated capillary density loss in high myopia.
• This microvascular thinning in the DCP is associated with longer baseline axial length.
• Retinal microvasculature changes in the SCP and CC were similar between healthy and myopic eyes.