Peripheral chorioretinal lesions and axial length of the myopic eye

A study of the retinal periphery of 1,437 predominantly myopic eyes revealed a statistically significant association of four types of peripheral chorioretinal degenerations with increased axial length of the eye. These were white without pressure, pigmentary degeneration, pavingstone degeneration, and lattice degeneration. There was a tendency for both white without pressure and lattice degeneration jointly to affect eyes of individuals 19 years of age and younger. Increasing age was a significant factor in the incidence of pigmentary and pavingstone degenerations, whereas aging significantly reduced the prevalence of white without pressure. Each of these lesions preferentially involved one or both temporal quadrants. The association of each of these four peripheral fundus changes with increased axial length of the eye and the involvement of the temporal quadrants support the recently advanced hypothesis, based on microscopy, that peripheral fundus disease may be a consequence of abnormal postnatal development of the eye.