Association between peripheral retinal lesions and ocular biometric parameters in adults with mild-to-moderate myopia attending a refractive surgery clinic

Abstract

Background To investigate the association between peripheral retinal lesions (PRLs) and ocular biometric parameters in adults with mild-to-moderate myopia. Methods This retrospective cross-sectional study included 106 adults who contributed 171 eligible eyes with mild-to-moderate myopia. Based on dilated fundus examination and ultra-widefield imaging, 70 eyes were assigned to the PRL group and 101 eyes to the normal-fundus (NF) group. Participant age and eye-level spherical equivalent (SE), axial length (AL), mean corneal power (Km), corneal curvature radius (CR), and the exploratory corneal-curvature-adjusted parameter SEAL were compared. Eye-level continuous comparisons used participant-clustered robust standard errors. Lesion types and quadrant distributions were recorded descriptively. Results Mean age did not differ between the groups (21.17 ± 3.76 vs. 22.04 ± 3.13 years, P = 0.200). SE was also similar (−4.23 ± 1.26 vs. −4.20 ± 1.07 D, P = 0.913). Compared with NF eyes, PRL eyes had a longer AL (26.39 ± 0.87 vs. 24.78 ± 0.72 mm, P < 0.001), lower Km (41.40 ± 0.90 vs. 44.51 ± 0.72 D, P < 0.001), higher CR (8.16 ± 0.18 vs. 7.59 ± 0.12 mm, P < 0.001), and a more negative SEAL value (−4.59 ± 1.42 vs. −3.95 ± 1.05 D, P = 0.009). White without pressure, lattice degeneration, and snowflake degeneration were the most frequent lesions. Quadrant involvement was most common superiorly, superotemporally, inferiorly, and inferotemporally. Conclusion In this refractive-surgery-clinic sample, PRLs were associated at the eye level with longer AL, flatter corneas, and more negative exploratory SEAL values. Because the study was cross-sectional and did not include multivariable modeling, these findings do not establish independent predictors or causal relationships.