A Prospective Study of Macular Thickness in Amblyopic Children with Unilateral High Myopia

Purpose: To compare macular thickness of the normal fellow eye to that of the amblyopic eye using optical coherence tomography (OCT) in children with unilateral high myopia. Relationships between macular thickness and magnitude of myopic anisometropia, axial length, and visual acuity (VA) were investigated.

Methods: Thirty-one children with a mean age of 9.56 years were recruited. Macular thickness, axial length, best-corrected VA, and refraction were measured. Paired t-test was performed to compare the macular thickness of the amblyopic eye to that of the fellow eye. Partial correlations were used to test the relationships between interocular difference in macular thickness and anisometropia, axial length, and VA.

Results: Average (± SD) LogMAR VA in the amblyopic eye was 0.96 ± 0.31. Mean spherical equivalent in amblyopic eyes was -10.79 ± 3.40 diopters. A statistically significant difference in macular thickness was found between amblyopic and fellow eyes, with amblyopic eyes having greater foveal thickness but reduced inner and outer macular thickness. Only the nasal outer macular thickness had a statistically significant association with the magnitude of anisometropia.

Conclusions: Amblyopic children with unilateral high myopia tend to have a thicker fovea and thinner inner and outer macula in the amblyopic eye compared to the normal fellow eye. The findings indicate that anatomic changes may be present in the retinas of amblyopic children with unilateral high myopia. Future study is warranted to determine whether the mechanism of the macular changes is due to high myopia, amblyopia, or a combination of the two.