Interocular comparison of peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and vasculature in non-pathological myopia with anisometropia.

PURPOSE: To investigate the interocular differences in the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and retinal vasculature in non-pathological myopic patients with anisometropia.

METHODS

This retrospective cross-sectional study included 100 eyes from 50 participants aged 11 to 40 with anisometropic myopia. All participants underwent comprehensive ocular examinations, and then the RNFL thickness, ONH parameters, macular vessel density (MVD), optic disc vessel density (OVD), and optic disc perfusion density (OPD) were obtained using the Cirrus spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). The participants were divided into two groups based on the degree of anisometropia: Group 1 had the interocular difference of spherical equivalent (SE) over 1.50 diopters (D), and Group 2 had the interocular difference of SE between 1.00 D and 1.50 D. The interocular differences in retinal parameters were analyzed and compared between the two studied groups.

RESULTS

The superior and inferior RNFL were thinner, and the temporal RNFL was thicker in the more myopic eyes. The interocular differences of the temporal RNFL thickness, nasal MVD, temporal and inferior OVD, and temporal OPD were correlated with the interocular differences of SE and AL. The interocular differences of the temporal RNFL thickness, OVD, and OPD in Group 1 were more significant than in Group 2.

CONCLUSION

This study revealed that the temporal peripapillary RNFL was thicker in more myopic eyes, accompanied by higher OVD and OPD. These regional retinal alterations in the temporal peripapillary area may occur before the decrease in RNFL thickness and the onset of myopic pathological changes.