Screening for Myopia-Related Retinal Changes Among Teenagers.

Background And Objective: To evaluate the relationship between spherical equivalent (SE) refractive error and myopia-related peripheral retinal changes (MPRCs) and to find the optimal cutoff for screening myopic teenagers.

Patients And Methods: The study included 2,286 myopic subjects who had a dilated fundus examination between 1998 and 2011 and SE of -4.0 diopters (D) or higher in both eyes.

Results: Ninety-five subjects (4.16%) had MPRCs. Two subjects (0.09%) had moderate-to-severe MPRCs. A significant correlation (P < .0001) between SE and MPRC was found. The highest sum of sensitivity (72.63%) and specificity (73.44%) was achieved when a SE of -6.25 D in the more myopic eye was utilized as the cutoff.

Conclusions: SE and MPRCs are highly associated. The optimal cutoff to detect MPRC in teenagers is -6.25 D. However, using a SE of -4.0 D as the cutoff may be the practical choice for screening due to the noninvasiveness nature and low cost of the examination. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2019;50:e311-e319.].