Axial length changes during accommodation in myopes and emmetropes.

Purpose: To investigate the influence of accommodation on axial length (AXL) and a comprehensive range of ocular biometric parameters) in populations of young adult myopic and emmetropic subjects.

Methods: Forty young adult subjects had ocular biometry measured using a noncontact optical biometer (Lenstar LS 900) based on the principle of optical low coherence reflectometry under 3 different accommodation demands (0 D, 3 D, and 6 D). Subjects were classified as emmetropes (n = 19) or myopes (n = 21) based on their spherical equivalent refraction (mean emmetropic refraction -0.05 +/- 0.27 D and mean myopic refraction -1.82 +/- 0.84 D).

Results: AXL changed significantly with accommodation, with a mean increase of 11.9 +/- 12.3 mum and 24.1 +/- 22.7 mum for the 3 D and 6 D accommodation stimuli, respectively. A significant axial elongation associated with accommodation was still evident even after correction of the AXL data for potential error because of lens thickness change. The mean "corrected" increase in AXL was 5.2 +/- 11.2 mum and 7.4 +/- 18.9 mum for the 3 D and 6 D stimuli, respectively. There was no significant difference between the myopic and emmetropic populations in terms of the magnitude of change in AXL with accommodation, regardless of whether the data were corrected or not. A number of other ocular biometric parameters, such as anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, and vitreous chamber depth also exhibited significant change with accommodation. The myopic and emmetropic populations also exhibited no significant difference in the magnitude of change in these parameters with accommodation.

Conclusions: The eye undergoes a significant axial elongation associated with a brief period of accommodation, and the magnitude of this change in eye length increases for larger accommodation demands, however, there is no significant difference in the magnitude of eye elongation in myopic and emmetropic subjects.