Peripapillary Choroidal Thickness in Young Asians With High Myopia

PURPOSE: To describe the topography and predictors of peripapillary choroidal thickness (PPCT) in highly myopic eyes of young, healthy, Asian subjects. METHODS: A total of 870 young male subjects aged 21.63 ± 1.15 years were recruited from the Singapore military. Choroidal imaging was performed using enhanced depth imaging (EDI) spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Peripapillary choroidal thickness was manually measured at eight locations around the optic disc. RESULTS: We analyzed 448 subjects with high myopia (defined as spherical equivalent [SE] worse than -6.0 diopters [D]) and 116 with emmetropia (SE > -0.5 and < 0.5 D). The mean SE was -8.52 ± 1.20 D for the high-myopic group, and 0.11 ± 0.24 D for the emmetropic group. The mean peripapillary choroid was significantly thinner (142.62 ± 43.84 μm) in high myopes compared with emmetropes (181.90 ± 46.43 μm, P < 0.001). Likewise, PPCT showed further decrease with increase in degree of myopic refractive error. Distribution of PPCT showed a markedly different pattern in high-myopic eyes (thickest superiorly) and emmetropic eyes (thickest temporally). However, peripapillary choroid in both the groups was thinnest at the inferior location. Among the ocular factors studied, axial length, IOP, presence of posterior staphyloma, and chorioretinal atrophy were the factors significantly associated with PPCT. CONCLUSIONS: Highly myopic eyes have significantly thinner peripapillary choroid and showed different distribution of thickness, compared with emmetropes. Axial length, IOP, and presence of posterior staphyloma and chorioretinal atrophy significantly influence PPCT and should be taken into consideration during clinical interpretation of PPCT measurement.