He Xian-Gui, Deng Jun-Jie, Yin Yao, Zhang Bo, Xiong Shu-Yu, Zhu Jian-Feng, Zou Hai-Dong, Xu Xun, Wang Ling
Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
Department of Preventative Ophthalmology, Shanghai Eye Disease Prevention and Treatment Center, Shanghai Eye Hospital, Shanghai 200040, China.
Int J Ophthalmol. 2019 Sep 18;12(9):1465-1473. doi: 10.18240/ijo.2019.09.15. eCollection 2019.
To explore the distribution pattern of macular choroidal thickness (ChT) and its association with age as well as refractive status in Chinese preschoolers.
School-based, cross-sectional study. A total of 550 healthy preschool children aged 3 to 6 years old from 6 kindergartens were enrolled. Comprehensive ocular examinations, including measurement of visual acuity, axial length, intraocular pressure and slit-lamp examination before cycloplegia, as well as refraction measurement and swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) examination after cycloplegia, were performed. The macular ChT in each sector of the ETDRS grid was measured by the built-in software of SS-OCT.
The mean central ChT of the participants was 312±59 µm. The mean axial length and spherical equivalent refraction were 22.36±0.72 mm and 1.51±0.83 D, respectively. Axial length increased with age (<0.001), while the spherical equivalent refraction was similar among different age groups. Similarly, no significant difference was observed in ChT in all sectors among different age groups (all >0.05). The central ChT of 3-4, 5 and 6 years old children was 314±59 µm, 312±60 µm and 312±59 µm, respectively (=0.920). No difference was observed in ChT in most of the sectors between genders. No statistical significant difference was observed among different refractive groups (all >0.05), though the ChT of each sector seemed to be smaller in myopic children. Axial length and weight were the independent factors of central ChT. Children with longer axial length (=-21.184, <0.001) and smaller weight (=1.502, =0.041) tended to have thinner choroid.
In preschool children, the ChT remains relatively stable with age, while a negative association between ChT and axial length existed. This will be helpful to elucidate the characteristics of ChT during the early refractive development.
探讨中国学龄前儿童黄斑脉络膜厚度（ChT）的分布模式及其与年龄和屈光状态的关系。
基于学校的横断面研究。纳入了来自6所幼儿园的550名3至6岁的健康学龄前儿童。进行了全面的眼部检查，包括视力、眼轴长度、眼压测量以及睫状肌麻痹前的裂隙灯检查，以及睫状肌麻痹后的验光测量和扫频光学相干断层扫描（SS-OCT）检查。通过SS-OCT的内置软件测量ETDRS网格各区域的黄斑ChT。
参与者的平均中央ChT为312±59µm。平均眼轴长度和等效球镜度分别为22.36±0.72mm和1.51±0.83D。眼轴长度随年龄增加（<0.001），而不同年龄组的等效球镜度相似。同样，不同年龄组各区域的ChT无显著差异（均>0.05）。3至4岁、5岁和6岁儿童的中央ChT分别为314±59µm、312±60µm和312±59µm（=0.920）。不同性别之间大多数区域的ChT无差异。不同屈光组之间无统计学显著差异（均>0.05），尽管近视儿童各区域的ChT似乎较小。眼轴长度和体重是中央ChT的独立影响因素。眼轴较长的儿童（=-21.184，<0.001）和体重较小的儿童（=1.502，=0.041）脉络膜往往较薄。
在学龄前儿童中，ChT随年龄相对稳定，而ChT与眼轴长度呈负相关。这将有助于阐明早期屈光发育过程中ChT的特征。
