Foveal and Macular Thickness Measurements in Myopes as Determined by Optical Coherence Tomography

BACKGROUND Myopia is becoming one of the major public health problems globally. Various structural changes are seen in the fundus of myopic patients. Hence there is a need to understand the normal macular thickness in myopes. With the advent of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), foveal and macular thickness can be measured with micrometer resolution. However, there have been hardly any studies that have compared the central foveal and macular thickness among low, moderate and high myopes. We wanted to assess foveal and macular thickness in low, moderate and high myopic patients and study the association between foveal and macular thickness with axial length and spherical equivalent. METHODS A total of 150 eyes of 150 subjects with varying degrees of myopia who presented to the Department of Ophthalmology, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana formed the study group. Comprehensive ophthalmic examination was performed which included visual acuity, refraction by autorefractometer, axial length by NIDEK AL-SCAN, foveal and macular thickness measurements by Optical Coherence Tomography. RESULTS A total of 150 patients of different grades of myopia were analyzed. The central foveal thickness increased from mild to high myopia. The average macular thickness, and the thickness of the various quadrants in inner and outer macula ring decreased with progression of myopia. CONCLUSIONS It was observed from our study that with increasing grades of myopia, there is increase in central foveal thickness and decrease in the average macular thickness which should be considered mainly in high myopes in retinal disorders.