Choriocapillaris flow features in children with myopic anisometropia.

Aims: To examine differences between the eyes in choriocapillaris perfusion and choroidal thickness in children with myopic anisometropia.

Methods: In this observational and prospective study, 46 children with myopic anisometropia were enrolled. Choriocapillaris perfusion parameters, including the percentage of flow voids, the total number of flow voids and the average flow void area were obtained by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). The OCTA image was divided into a 1 mm-diameter central circle (C1) and a 2.5 mm-diameter annulus (without the inner central 1 mm circle, C1-2.5). Both C1 and C1-2.5 are centred on the foveola. The C1-2.5 was divided into nasal (N1-2.5), temporal (T1-2.5), inferior (I1-2.5) and superior (S1-2.5) areas. Differences in these parameters in different regions between eyes were analysed.

Results: There were no significant differences in the percentage of flow voids and the average flow void area between the fellow eyes. The total number of signal voids was significantly higher in the less myopic eyes in C1-2.5 (p=0.032), S1-2.5 (p=0.008) and N1-2.5 (p=0.019). Changes in spherical equivalent refraction and axial length were both correlated with the changes in the total number of flow voids in N1-2.5 (R=-0.431, p=0.03; R=-0.297, p=0.047).

Conclusions: The choroid in the macular region becomes thinner and the total number of flow voids in the nasal macular region decreased with the amplitude of myopia. This suggests that a decrease in total number of flow voids may indicate an early change in myopia.