Spontaneous high myopia in one eye will affect the development of form deprivation myopia in the fellow eye.

PURPOSE

Whether there is an interaction between eyes of individual subjects in refractive development is an important issue to guide experimental designs and help understand mechanisms involved in development of refractive errors. This study investigated whether spontaneous high myopia in one eye will affect refractive development of the fellow eye treated with form deprivation.

METHODS

Thirty-four guinea pigs were divided into four groups: MD (monocularly form-deprived animals with a pre-treatment anisometropia ≤ 2D, n = 8), anisometropic MD (monocular form deprivation on a relatively hyperopic eye in animals with a pre-treatment anisometropia ≥ 10D, n = 9), normal control (non-form deprivation in animals with a pre-treatment anisometropia ≤ 2D, n = 8), and anisometropic control (non-form deprivation in animals with a pre-treatment anisometropia ≥ 10D, n = 9). All eyes in different groups underwent biometric measurements on days 0, 12, 24, and 36 of the experiment.

RESULTS

High myopia in one eye reduced form deprivation myopia in the fellow treated eye. The change in refraction from 0 to 36 days in the deprived eyes was -3.07D for the MD group, but -1.22D for the anisometropic MD group (-3.07D vs. -1.22D: p = 0.009, independent sample t-test). The amount of vitreous chamber lengthening over the same period in the deprived eyes was 0.19 mm for the MD group, but 0.12 mm for the anisometropic MD group (0.19 mm vs. 0.12 mm: p = 0.038, independent sample t-test). Myopic development in the anisometropic animals is mainly inhibited within the first 12 days compared to normal MD animals.

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicate that an interaction in refractive development may exist temporarily between two eyes of a highly anisometropic animal if the visual environment has been changed.