Testing Equipment for Complications of High Myopia
July 15 , 2022
The rapidly increasing prevalence of myopia poses one of the most serious public health issues, especially in Asia where pathological myopia has been reported as the primary cause of blindness or low vision in 12–27% of the populations . The major alterations in pathologic myopia include excessive axial elongation of the globe and associated local ectasia of the posterior sclera, which eventually leads to characterized retinal and choroidal lesions as well as impacts on macular function .
Laid between the retina and the sclera in the posterior eye, the highly vascular choroid is essential for maintaining the normal physiology of the eye, such as supplying oxygen and nutrients for the outer retina. There is also substantial evidence that the choroid plays an important role in controlling ocular elongation and refractive error development . Growing evidence in the literature has demonstrated that a short-term thickening of the choroid leads to a prolonged decrease in extracellular matrix molecule synthesis and a slowing of eye growth . Therefore, controlling choroidal thinning could be a crucial approach to maintain emmetropia and reduce the incidence of severe myopic maculopathy.
As a treatment targeting the posterior pole of the eye, posterior scleral reinforcement (PSR) was first proposed by Shevelev in 1930 and later modified by Snyder and Thompson in 1972 . PSR has been considered an effective and safe surgical method for stabilization of the axial elongation and prevention of high myopic complications . The mechanism by which PSR may slow down the elongation of the eyeball was presumably due to the direct mechanical force of the reinforcement band and the scleral remodeling and improvement of microcirculation within the macula . However, whether or not PSR could change the choroidal thickness (CT) and choroidal blood flow is still under debate due to lack of satisfactory quantitative methods .
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been introduced as a new non-invasive, quantitative approach to visualize the choroidal microvasculature . OCT can provide a better-visualized full-thickness choroid and enable more accurate measurements of the choroidal structure.
IPv6 network supported
English
español
العربية
