A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THICKNESS CHANGES IN THE MACULA AND NERVE FIBER LAYER IN HIGH MYOPIC EYES IN COMPARISON TO THE NORMAL POPULATION WITHOUT REFRACTIVE ERRORS USING OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONMyopia has emerged as a significant and rapidly escalating public health concern globally. Pathologic myopia refers to a severe form of myopia characterized by progressive and excessive axial elongation of the eyeball, leading to structural complications in the posterior segment. It is associated with a range of degenerative changes affecting the sclera, optic disc, choroid, bruch's membrane, retinal pigment epithelium, and the neural retina. Pathologic myopia has been identified as one of the leading causes of visual impairment and low vision in numerous developed nations, underscoring its clinical and societal burden.The cut-off value of high axial myopia is refractive error of – 6 Diopter and more, axial length of 26 mm and more. Optical coherence tomography has been widely used for assessing retina and optic nerve by providing quantitative and qualitative assessment of macula and retinal nerve fiber layer.AIM OF THE WORKOur study aims to compare central macular thickness and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness between high myopic population and emmetropic poulation using optical coherence tomography