This cross-sectional research, recently published in Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy, evaluated the characteristics of macular retinal vessel density and thickness in 228 children aged 4 to 16 years with myopia using UWF SS-OCTA.

Flow and structural parameters in the ETDRS grid, including superficial retinal vessel density (SVD), deep retinal vessel density (DVD), inner retinal thickness (IRT), outer retinal thickness (ORT), and full retinal thickness (FRT) (see figs. B-G), were analyzed in 24 mm x 20 mm UWF full-range SS-OCTA images (see fig. A). Subjects were categorized into low myopia, moderate-to-high myopia, and non-myopia groups.

The study found that with increasing degrees of myopia and axial length (AL), the ORT decreased significantly (except for the central fovea), and the vessel density in the fovea and parafovea (except for the inferior region) was significantly reduced in the moderate-to-high myopia group.

Furthermore, multivariate linear regression analysis, adjusting for age and gender, showed that the FRT at the fovea was unrelated to AL, while the parafovea and perifovea FRT were negatively correlated with AL. Additionally, AL was negatively correlated with DVD in all ETDRS regions. These results indicate that in research focusing on children and adolescents, DVD and ORT were more sensitive to AL than SVD and IRT, suggesting that DVD and ORT may have a more significant correlation with AL growth during myopia progression.

A 400 kHz full-range swept-source OCTA (BMizar, TowardPi Medical) played a crucial role in this study as a simple, non-invasive, and practical technology that allowed for the assessment and quantification of retinal vessel density and thickness at various degrees of myopia.“It also provided clear visualization of changes in macular retinal vessels and microstructure in children and adolescents, especially the early alterations in retinal thickness and vessel density associated with myopia.”

This study was authored by Dr. Jingyu Mu and Dr. Jing Wei, among others, the team of Prof. Junguo Duan and Prof. Juan Wen at Ineye Hospital of Chengdu University of TCM, China.

Link to original text: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1572100024002771