Patterns of Changes in Morphometric and of the Cornea Biomechanical Properties during the Formation of Peripheral Vitreochorioretinal Dystrophies in Children with Myopic Refraction

Purpose: elucidation of the patterns of biomechanical and morphometric properties of the cornea in children with presence of peripheral vitreochorioretinal dystrophies (PVCRD) against the background of myopic refraction.

Patients and methods. The clinical material consisted of 20 children with prognostically dangerous types of PVCRD against the background of acquired myopia from 9 to 17 years old (28 eyes), mainly lattice PVCRD. The anterior-posterior axis (APA) of the eyes varied from 25.02 to 26.58 mm (main group). The comparison group (20 children) included 2 subgroups: A — 12 children (24 eyes) with myopia; B — 8 children (16 eyes) with emmetropic and slightly hypermetropic refractions. Keratotopography parameters and biomechanical properties of the cornea were assessed.

Results. A statistically significant difference in APA length of the eyes was found between the main group and subgroup B of the comparison group (25.8 ± 0.78 mm versus 23.6 ± 0.5 mm), p ≤ 0.01. There was no statistically significant difference in the pachymetric values of the corneal optic zone between the main group and the comparison group, as well as between both subgroups of the comparison group. The average corneal elasticity index in the main group was statistically significantly lower than that in subgroups A and B of the comparison group. A statistically significant difference in the peak corneal distance indices was also found between the main group and subgroups A and B of the comparison group. The revealed patterns indicate the presence of a “softer” cornea in the main group (the greatest degree of its deflection), in comparison with a “rigid” cornea in both comparison subgroups.

Conclusion. The cornea in children with PVCRD against the background of myopic refraction is characterized by reduced biomechanical properties, compared to children with myopia without PVCRD.

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