Sustained convergence, axial length, and corneal topography.

PURPOSE: To investigate the influence of convergence on axial length and corneal topography in young adult subjects.

METHODS

Fifteen emmetropic young adult subjects with normal binocular vision had axial length and corneal topography measured immediately before and after a 15-min period of base out (BO) prismatic spectacle lens wear. Two different magnitude prismatic spectacles were worn in turn (8 Delta BO and 16 Delta BO), and for both tasks, distance fixation was maintained for the duration of lens wear. Eight subjects returned on a separate day for further testing and had axial length measured before, during, and immediately after a 15-min convergence task.

RESULTS

No significant change was found to occur in axial length either during or after the sustained convergence tasks (p > 0.6). Some small but significant changes in corneal topography were found to occur after sustained convergence. The most significant corneal change was observed after the 16 Delta BO prism wear. The corneal refractive power spherocylinder power vector J0 was found to change by a small (mean change of 0.03 D after the 16 Delta BO task) but statistically significant (p = 0.03) amount as a result of the convergence task (indicative of a reduction in with-the-rule corneal astigmatism after convergence). Corneal axial power was found to exhibit a significant flattening in superior regions.

CONCLUSIONS

Axial length appears largely unchanged by a period of sustained convergence. However, small but significant changes occur in the topography of the cornea after convergence.