A comparative study of the peripheral retinal degeneration between moderate and high myopia with retinal detachment

Objective To compare the occurrence of the peripheral retinal degeneration between moderate myopia and high myopia with retinal detachment. Methods One hundred and sixty-seven eyes of 166 myopic patients with retinal detachment who underwent vitrectomy were analyzed. These patients were divided into two groups according to myopic refractive degree: group A with 117 eyes of 117 cases of high myopia (-6.25D and over) with retinal detachment and group B with 50 eyes of 49 cases of moderate myopia (between -3.00D and -6.00D) with retinal detachment. The peripheral retinas of myopic patients were examined carefully through three-mirror contact lens and during the vitrectomy surgery. Results Twenty-nine eyes without peripheral retinal degeneration accounted for 24.79% and 88 eyes with obvious peripheral retinal degeneration accounted for 75.21% were in group A. One eye without peripheral retinal degeneration accounted for 2.00% and 49 eyes with obvious peripheral retinal degeneration accounted for 98.00% were in group B. The occurrence rates of peripheral retinal degeneration between the two groups were compared by using the chi-square test and the difference was statistically significant (χ2 =12.34, P=0.000). Conclusion The occurrence rate of peripheral retinal degeneration in high myopic patients with retinal detachment (group A) is obviously lower than that in moderate myopic patients with retinal detachment (group B). Key words: Myopia, moderate; Myopia, high; Retinal detachment; Degeneration, peripheral retina