Morphologic and Vascular Characteristics of Myopic Eyes with Inferior

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the morphologic and vascular characteristics in myopic eyes with inferior posterior staphyloma (IPS). Methods: This is a retrospective, case-control study. A total of 21 myopic individuals with IPS (30 eyes) were analyzed, and an age-and-axial length (AL)-matched control group (27 individuals, 30 eyes) was selected. All participants underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examinations. Swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT), optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), color fundus photography, and ocular biometry were employed to evaluate morphological and vascular parameters. In our primary analysis, we treated all eyes as independent observations, and the statistical analyses were performed at the eye level. Results: Compared with control group, the IPS group demonstrated a reduction in the superior radial peripapillary capillary (RPC), thinning of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) in the temporo-inferior, temporo-superior, supero-temporal, superior, and supero-nasal regions, and thickening of the RNFL in the nasal, nasal-inferior, infero-nasal, and inferior regions. The IPS group also had a larger parapapillary atrophy area (36928.17±31899.25 vs 15962.10±10776.59, P=0.001), a greater disc rotation degree (62.66±18.54° vs 15.48±15.70°, P<0.001), and a higher disc tilt ratio (1.48±0.28 vs 1.25±0.15, P<0.001). In eyes with IPS, the degree of horizontal tilt was smaller (4.25±4.36°vs 9.42±4.59°, P<0.001), while the degree of vertical tilt was larger (7.91±4.99°vs 2.01±3.91°, P<0.001) with significant differences. Moreover, thinning of macular and peripapillary choroidal layers was observed in IPS eyes (all P <0.05). Conclusions: In this small cross-sectional sample of age-and-AL-matched myopic eyes, IPS was associated with distinct optic-disc morphology, regional redistribution of RNFL thickness, choroidal thinning, and lower superior RPC density.