Efficacy of Myopia Control and Distribution of Corneal Epithelial Thickness in Children Treated with Orthokeratology Assessed Using Optical Coherence Tomography

Yu Kai Kuo, Yen Ting Chen, Ho Min Chen, Pei Chang Wu, Chi Chin Sun, Ling Yeung, Ken Kuo Lin, Hung Chi Chen, Lan Hsin Chuang, Chi Chun Lai, Yau Hung Chen, Chun Fu Liu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

The association between myopia control efficacy in children treated with orthokeratology and corneal epithelial thickness is still unknown. The aim of this study was to explore the corneal epithelial thickness and its association with axial length changes in children treated with orthokeratology. This retrospective cohort study enrolled children aged from 9 to 15 years who had received orthokeratology for myopia control and had been followed up for at least 1 year. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography was performed to generate wide epithelial thickness maps of the patients. Annual axial length changes were calculated from the axial length at 6 months after the initiation of orthokeratology lens wear and at final measurements. Corneal epithelial thickness data were obtained from 24 sectors and a central 2 mm zone of the wide epithelial thickness map. Associations between annual axial length changes and corneal epithelial thickness for each sector/zone of the wide epithelial thickness map, and orthokeratology treatment data were determined by generalized estimating equations. Finally, a total of 83 eyes of 43 patients (mean age 11.2 years) were included in the analysis. The mean annual axial length change was 0.169 mm; when regressing demographic and ortho-k parameters to mean annual axial length changes, age and target power were both negatively associated with them (β = −14.43, p = 0.008; β = −0.26, p = 0.008, respectively). After adjusting for age and target power, the annual axial length changes were positively associated with the corneal epithelium thickness of IT1, I1, SN2, and S2 sectors of the wide epithelial thickness map, and negatively with that of the I3 sector. In conclusion, we identified associations between annual axial length changes and the corneal epithelium thickness of certain sectors in children treated with orthokeratology. This may facilitate the design of orthokeratology lenses with enhanced efficacy for myopia control.

Original languageEnglish
Article number278
JournalJournal of Personalized Medicine
Volume12
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 02 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Anterior segment OCT
  • Axial length changes
  • Corneal epithelial thickness
  • Myopia control
  • Orthokeratology

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