ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Ophthalmology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1645015
This article is part of the Research TopicImaging in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Eye DiseasesView all 33 articles
Differences in Macular Structure and Microvasculature Between High Myopia and Non-High Myopia
Provisionally accepted
- 1The First Affiliated Hospital With Nanjing Medical University Department of Ophthalmology, Nanjing, China
- 2Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
- 3Department of Ophthalmology, The People’s Hospital of Mengzi, Mengzi, China
- 4Central South University Aier School of Opthalmology, Changsha, China
- 5Aier Eye Hospital Group, Shanghai Aier Eye Hospital, Shanghai, China
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Purpose: To investigate the retinal and choroidal morphological and microvascular changes in myopic eyes using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Methods: In this retrospective, cross-sectional study, 142 eyes from 84 myopic patients were categorized into two groups based on spherical equivalent (SE): high myopia (HM; SE ≤ -6.0 D, 72 eyes) and non-high myopia (NHM; -6.0 D < SE ≤ -0.5 D, 70 eyes). OCTA-derived parameters including foveal retinal thickness (RT), choroidal thickness (CT), superficial (SRVD) and deep retinal vessel density (DRVD), choriocapillaris density (CCD), and foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area and perimeter were analyzed. Results: The mean SE was -10.16 ± 3.55 D in HM group and -3.86 ± 1.60 D in NHM group. RT measurements revealed substantial increases in HM eyes, including total foveal (276.4 ± 36.1 μm vs 250.1 ± 23.3 μm; P < 0.01), parafoveal (348.0 ± 23.0 μm vs 329.7 ± 20.8 μm; P < 0.01), and perifoveal regions (304.9 ± 25.1 μm vs 290.6 ± 15.5 μm; P < 0.01). Retinal vascular analysis showed reduced SRVD in the fovea with borderline significance (14.9 ± 7.1% vs 17.9 ± 7.4%; P = 0.05), while DRVD showed a non-significant reduction (31.4 ± 10.1% vs 37.8 ± 24.0%; P > 0.05). HM eyes exhibited significant choroidal thinning (169.2 ± 74.0 μm vs 222.4 ± 70.7 μm; P < 0.01) and decreased CCD (55.7 ± 3.1% vs 58.0 ± 2.6%; P < 0.01). The FAZ displayed larger area (0.4 ± 0.4 mm² vs 0.3 ± 0.1 mm²; P = 0.07) and perimeter (2.5 ± 1.1 mm vs 2.1 ± 0.4 mm; P < 0.05) in HM subjects. Conclusions: High myopia is associated with distinct retinal and choroidal alterations, including increased RT, reduced CT and CCD, and enlarged FAZ, suggesting progressive microvascular and structural remodeling with myopia severity.
Keywords: Myopia, coherence tomography angiography, Macular microvasculature, Macular thickness, Foveal avascular zone
Received: 11 Jun 2025; Accepted: 11 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Song, Cun, Yang, Tao, Zhong, Lv and Qian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Shitou Lv, Department of Ophthalmology, The People’s Hospital of Mengzi, Mengzi, China
Chaoxu Qian, Central South University Aier School of Opthalmology, Changsha, China
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