Observational Study
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World J Clin Cases. Feb 16, 2022; 10(5): 1548-1556
Published online Feb 16, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i5.1548
Correlation of myopia onset and progression with corneal biomechanical parameters in children
Li-Li Lu, Xiao-Juan Hu, Yan Yang, Shen Xu, Shi-Yong Yang, Cui-Yu Zhang, Qing-Ya Zhao
Li-Li Lu, Xiao-Juan Hu, Yan Yang, Shen Xu, Shi-Yong Yang, Cui-Yu Zhang, Qing-Ya Zhao, Department of Ophthalmology, Cangzhou Aier Eye Hospital, Cangzhou 061000, Hebei Province, China
Author contributions: Lu LL contributed to study conception, design, and writing of the article; Hu XJ, Yang Y contributed to collection of clinical data; Xu S, Yang SY contributed to data acquisition, data analysis, and interpretation; Zhang CY, Zhao QY contributed to editing, reviewing, and final approval of the article.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Cangzhou Aier Eye Hospital Ethics Committee.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest to disclose.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Li-Li Lu, MBChB, Attending Doctor, Department of Ophthalmology, Cangzhou Aier Eye Hospital, No. 35 Huanghe West Road, Yongan South Avenue, Yunhe District, Cangzhou 061000, Hebei Province, China. lili5lu@163.com
Received: October 15, 2021
Peer-review started: October 15, 2021
First decision: December 1, 2021
Revised: December 15, 2021
Accepted: December 31, 2021
Article in press: December 31, 2021
Published online: February 16, 2022
Processing time: 118 Days and 20.1 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Recent epidemiological studies have shown that general eye measurement parameters and corneal biomechanical properties can predict the speed of myopic progression in children.

AIM

To investigate the correlation between the onset and progression of myopia and corneal biomechanical parameters in children.

METHODS

The study included 102 cases in the emmetropia group, 207 cases in the myopic group, and 109 cases in the hyperopic group. The correlation between the change in corneal biomechanical indexes and the change in general ocular measurement parameters was analyzed. A one-way ANOVA test compared general ocular measurement and corneal biomechanical parameters. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was analyzed to correlate corneal biomechanical and general ocular measurement parameters.

RESULTS

The general ophthalmometric parameters: Spherical equivalent (SE), intraocular pressure (IOP), and axial length (AL), differed significantly among subjects in myopia, emmetropia, and hyperopic groups. Children’s SE positively correlated with corneal biomechanical parameters: Second velocity of applanation (A2V), peak distance (PD), and deformation amplitude (DA) (P < 0.05), and second applanation length (A2L) (P < 0.05). But it was negatively correlated with PD, DA and integral radius (IR) (P < 0.05). Also, IOP was negatively correlated with A2L and IR (P < 0.05). AL positively correlated with A2V and negatively correlated with second applanation time (A2T), highest concavity, and PD. Central corneal thickness positively correlated with first applanation length, first applanation time, first applanation deformation amplitude, A2V, A2L, A2T, second applanation deformation amplitude, central curvature radius at highest concavity (HCR), PD, DA, IR, ambrosia relational thickness-horizontal, first applanation stiffness parameter, corvis biomechanical index, topographic and biomechanics index and the first velocity of applanation. The general ocular Km in children positively correlated with corneal biomechanical parameters DA and IR and negatively correlated with A2L, HCR, and PD. There was a positive correlation between the general ocular measurement parameters ΔSE and corneal biomechanical parameters ΔA2V and ΔA2L, and a negative correlation with ΔIR. The increase in general ocular measurement parameter ΔKm positively correlated with changes in corneal biomechanical parameters, ΔDA and ΔIR, and negatively correlated with ΔHCR and ΔPD.

CONCLUSION

Myopia development in children was associated with multiple corneal biomechanical parameters.

Keywords: Children; Myopia; Corneal biomechanical parameters; Correlation

Core Tip: A total of 207 elementary school students aged 9-11 years, 142 males and 65 females, who presented to our hospital from November 2019 to April 2020, were enrolled for myopia study. We found a correlation between myopia development and various corneal biomechanical parameters in children. These findings may allow clinicians to take preventive measures to minimize a further increase in axial length.