Corneal higher-order aberrations and their relationship with choroid in myopic patients.

Background: To investigate corneal higher-order aberrations (HOAs) and choroidal characteristics in myopic individuals and explore the association between HOAs and choroidal parameters.
Methods: Myopic participants were categorized into three groups based on axial lengths (ALs). We compared corneal HOAs, including spherical (Z ₄ ⁰ ), comatic (Z ₃   ^- 1 and Z ₃ ¹ ), and trefoil (Z ₃   ^- 3 and Z ₃ ³ ) aberrations, as well as choroidal vascularity index (CVI) and choroidal thickness (CT). Linear regression analysis was used to assess the relationships among corneal HOAs, CVI, CT, spherical equivalent, and AL.
Results: Groups 1, 2, and 3 included 105, 98, and 118 eyes, respectively. Group 3 exhibited lower spherical HOA root mean square and Z ₄ ⁰ values than group 1(p < 0.05). Group 1 showed lower Z ₃ ¹ levels than other groups (p < 0.001). Groups 1 and 2 had higher mean, central, and I2 vertical CVIs than group 3 (p < 0.05). Group 1 had a larger vertical S1 CVI than group 3 (p < 0.05). Group 3 had smaller horizontal CVI values in all regions except N2 (p < 0.05). Both the mean and CT in all regions decreased as AL increased (p < 0.001). The comatic (Z ₃ ¹ ) and trefoil (Z ₃ ³ ) components were predictors of mean horizontal CVI, and the comatic (Z ₃ ¹ ) component was correlated with both mean vertical and horizontal CT.
Conclusion: Longer AL myopic patients exhibited lower absolute values of spherical aberration and horizontal coma. Alterations in choroid in myopic patients correlated with corneal HOAs. Our results suggest a potential connection between the optical quality and ocular perfusion in myopia.
Competing Interests: Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate The study protocol adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Ethics Committee of Wenzhou Medical University. All patients have been informed of the purpose of the experiment and signed informed consent. Consent for publication Not applicable. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)