Macular choroidal thickness in Chinese preschool children: decrease with axial length but no evident change with age

• 作者: Bo Zhang Hai-Dong Zou Jian-Feng Zhu Jun-Jie Deng Ling Wang Shu-Yu Xiong Xian-Gui He Xun Xu Yao Yin
• 来源期刊: 国际眼科杂志:英文版
• 学科: 医学
• 关键词: PRESCHOOL children choroidal thickness refractive error optical COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY
• 年，卷（期）: 2019,（9）
• 页码范围: 1465-1473
• 页数: 9页
• 分类号: R774.5

摘要

AIM: To explore the distribution pattern of macular choroidal thickness(ChT) and its association with age as well as refractive status in Chinese preschoolers.METHODS: School-based, cross-sectional study. A total of 550 healthy preschool children aged 3 to 6 years old from 6 kindergartens were enrolled. Comprehensive ocular examinations, including measurement of visual acuity, axial length, intraocular pressure and slit-lamp examination before cycloplegia, as well as refraction measurement and sweptsource optical coherence tomography(SS-OCT) examination after cycloplegia, were performed. The macular ChT in each sector of the ETDRS grid was measured by the builtin software of SS-OCT.RESULTS: The mean central ChT of the participants was 312±59 μm. The mean axial length and spherical equivalent refraction were 22.36±0.72 mm and 1.51±0.83 D, respectively. Axial length increased with age(P<0.001), while the spherical equivalent refraction was similar among different age groups. Similarly, no significant difference was observed in ChT in all sectors among different age groups(all P>0.05). The central ChT of 3-4, 5 and 6 years old children was 314±59 μm, 312±60 μm and 312±59 μm, respectively(P=0.920). No difference was observed in ChT in most of the sectors between genders. No statistical significant difference was observed among different refractive groups(all P>0.05), though the ChT of each sector seemed to be smaller in myopic children. Axial length and weight were the independent factors of central Ch T. Children with longer axial length(β=-21.184, P<0.001) and smaller weight(β=1.502, P=0.041) tended to have thinner choroid.CONCLUSION: In preschool children, the ChT remains relatively stable with age, while a negative association between ChT and axial length existed. This will be helpful to elucidate the characteristics of ChT during the early refractive development.