Macular function in patients with medium myopia

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Neuroscience
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Medium myopia (SE -6D to -3D) can present with subclinical macular dysfunction.
• Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) may not detect early functional changes in myopia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess electrophysiological functional changes in the macula of medium myopia patients with normal OCT scans.
• To correlate axial length (AL) with macular OCT parameters in medium myopia.

Main Methods:

• Included 17 myopic patients and 20 healthy controls.
• Performed full ophthalmic exams, macular and optic disc OCT, and Pattern Electroretinography (PERG).
• Utilized statistical tests including Shapiro-Wilk, Mann-Whitney, Student's t-test, and correlation analyses.

Main Results:

• Myopic eyes had significantly longer AL and lower SE.
• The myopic group showed longer P50 implicit time, indicating delayed cone system response.
• AL correlated with P50 implicit time and reductions in retinal nerve fiber layer and ganglion cells.

Conclusions:

• Medium myopia exhibits macular cone system dysfunction detectable by PERG, despite normal OCT findings.
• Elongated AL is associated with structural retinal changes in myopic eyes.
• Further longitudinal studies are needed to determine if these findings predict myopia progression or inform management strategies.