Comparison of Deep Optic Nerve Head Structures and Optic Disc Morphology in Unilateral Peripapillary Intrachoroidal...

To compare background characteristics, deep optic nerve head (ONH) structures, and optic disc morphology in participants with unilateral peripapillary intrachoroidal cavitation (PICC).

Retrospective cross-sectional study.

One hundred six eyes of 53 participants with unilateral PICC determined on OCT.

Twelve ONH-centered OCT radial slices were used to manually measure Bruch membrane opening (BMO) area, BMO ovality, scleral flange opening (SFO) area, SFO ovality, and SFO/BMO offset magnitude which represents the degree of SFO/BMO centroid displacement and clinically corresponds to the peripapillary atrophy-gamma and delta zones. Optic disc tilt, rotation, area, and longest and shortest diameters were measured from line scanning laser ophthalmoscopy images.

Paired t tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to compare background characteristics and obtained parameters between PICC eyes and their contralateral eyes. False discovery rate was controlled using the Benjamini-Hochberg method to account for multiple comparisons.

Peripapillary intrachoroidal cavitation eyes showed significantly larger BMO area (P < 0.001) and its ovality (P = 0.020), larger SFO area (P = 0.003), larger SFO/BMO offset magnitude (P = 0.007), greater optic disc tilt (P < 0.001), and smaller optic disc shortest diameter (P = 0.010). There was no significant difference in axial length (AL) (P = 0.081) and optic disc rotation (P = 0.067).

Although AL was similar between PICC eyes and their contralateral eyes, significant intereye differences in deep ONH structures and optic disc morphology were observed. Peripapillary intrachoroidal cavitation eyes exhibited a more elliptically expanded BMO, larger SFO, greater SFO/BMO misalignment, and greater optic disc tilt, which are structural changes associated with border tissue elongation. Our findings indicate a strong association between the presence of PICC and myopia-related characteristic deep ONH remodeling, providing a foundation for understanding structural abnormalities in myopic eyes.

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