Corneal higher-order aberrations and their relationship with choroid in myopic patients.

BACKGROUND

To investigate corneal higher-order aberrations (HOAs) and choroidal characteristics in myopic individuals and explore the association between HOAs and choroidal parameters.

METHODS

Myopic participants were categorized into three groups based on axial lengths (ALs). We compared corneal HOAs, including spherical (Z40), comatic (Z3 - 1 and Z31), and trefoil (Z3 - 3 and Z33) aberrations, as well as choroidal vascularity index (CVI) and choroidal thickness (CT). Linear regression analysis was used to assess the relationships among corneal HOAs, CVI, CT, spherical equivalent, and AL.

RESULTS

Groups 1, 2, and 3 included 105, 98, and 118 eyes, respectively. Group 3 exhibited lower spherical HOA root mean square and Z40 values than group 1(p < 0.05). Group 1 showed lower Z31 levels than other groups (p < 0.001). Groups 1 and 2 had higher mean, central, and I2 vertical CVIs than group 3 (p < 0.05). Group 1 had a larger vertical S1 CVI than group 3 (p < 0.05). Group 3 had smaller horizontal CVI values in all regions except N2 (p < 0.05). Both the mean and CT in all regions decreased as AL increased (p < 0.001). The comatic (Z31) and trefoil (Z33) components were predictors of mean horizontal CVI, and the comatic (Z31) component was correlated with both mean vertical and horizontal CT.

CONCLUSION

Longer AL myopic patients exhibited lower absolute values of spherical aberration and horizontal coma. Alterations in choroid in myopic patients correlated with corneal HOAs. Our results suggest a potential connection between the optical quality and ocular perfusion in myopia.