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Choroidal thickness changes in response to defocus in emmetropia and in myopia
Author(s) -
Weber M.,
Esmaeelpour M.,
Drexler W.,
Findl O.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2015.0386
Subject(s) - emmetropia , dioptre , ophthalmology , optical coherence tomography , diabetic retinopathy , medicine , choroid , optometry , mathematics , refractive error , eye disease , optics , visual acuity , retina , diabetes mellitus , physics , endocrinology
Purpose This prospective study aimed to investigate the effect of myopic defocus on choroidal thickness in emmetropic, in moderately myopic and in highly myopic subjects. Methods A 3‐dimensional spectral domain‐optical coherence tomography (SD‐OCT) system that operates at a wavelength of 1060 nm was used to measure choroidal thickness in the 9 sections according to the “early treatment diabetic retinopathy study” (ETDRS) grid before and after a period of 60 minutes of defocus with a +3.00 Dioptre (D) lens in one eye of 15 emmetropic (spherical equivalent‐SE: −0.75 to +0.75D; group A), 15 moderately myopic (SE: −6.00 to −2.50D; group B) and 15 highly myopic subjects (SE: ≥−6.25D; group C). Results Choroidal thickness was in all ETDRS fields significantly thicker in emmetropic than in moderately and in highly myopic subjects. Central field choroidal thickness before and after defocus was in group A 322 ± 59 μm and 321 ± 57 μm, in group B 259 ± 71 μm and 258 ± 65 µm and in group C 237 ± 64 µm and 237 ±65 µm. Choroidal thickness did not differ from before to after defocus in the central ETDRS field (group A: −1 ± 12 µm, p = 0.710; group B: −1 ± 8 µm, p = 0.660; group C: 0 ± 6 µm; p = 0.995; paired t ‐test) and these differences did not differ significantly between the groups (p=0.940, ANOVA). In the peripheral ETDRS fields choroidal thickness changes from before to after defocus were neither found to be significant within the groups (p > 0.05, paired t‐test) nor between the groups (p > 0.05, ANOVA). Conclusions Myopic defocus does not influence the choroidal thickness in emmetropic, moderately myopic and in highly myopic subjects.