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Regional alterations in human choroidal thickness in response to short‐term monocular hemifield myopic defocus
Author(s) -
HoseiniYazdi Hosein,
Vincent Stephen J,
Collins Michael J,
Read Scott A
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
ophthalmic and physiological optics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.147
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1475-1313
pISSN - 0275-5408
DOI - 10.1111/opo.12609
Subject(s) - ophthalmology , choroid , retinal , foveal , optical coherence tomography , retina , monocular , medicine , macular degeneration , optics , physics
Abstract Purpose To examine the regional changes in human choroidal thickness following short‐term exposure to hemifield myopic defocus using optical coherence tomography ( OCT ). Methods The central 26˚ visual field of the left eye of 25 healthy young adults (mean age 26 ± 5 years) was exposed to 60 min of clear vision (control session), +3 D full‐field, +3 D superior retinal and +3 D inferior retinal myopic defocus, with the right eye occluded. Choroidal thickness across the central 5 mm (17°) macular region was examined before and after 60 min of defocus using a high‐resolution, foveal centred vertical OCT line scan, with optical defocus simultaneously imposed using a Badal optometer and cold mirror system mounted on a Spectralis OCT device. Results Averaged across the central 5 mm macular area, choroidal thickness decreased by −4 ± 7 μm during the control session ( p = 0.01), most likely due to the unique stimulus conditions of this study. The mean macular choroidal thickness increased during full‐field (+2 ± 8 μm), inferior retinal (+3 ± 7 μm) and superior retinal myopic defocus (+5 ± 9 μm), representing a significant thickening of the choroid compared to the control session (all p < 0.05). The defocus induced changes in macular choroidal thickness differed between the superior and inferior hemiretinal regions (F 2.26, 54.27 = 29.75, p < 0.001). When only the superior retina was exposed to myopic defocus, the choroid thickened in the superior region (+7 ± 8 μm, p < 0.001), but did not change significantly in the inferior region (+3 ± 9 μm, p = 0.12). When only the inferior retina was exposed to myopic defocus, the choroid thickened inferiorly (+4 ± 8 μm, p = 0.005), with no significant change observed in the superior region (+1 ± 8 μm, p = 0.46). Conclusions These findings provide evidence supporting a local regional choroidal response to myopic defocus in the human eye, with hemifield myopic defocus leading to significant thickening of the choroid localised to the retinal region exposed to defocus. The novel finding of a localised response of the human choroid to hemifield myopic defocus, particularly in the superior hemiretina, may have important implications in optimising the optical design of myopia control interventions.