The study was done to check the progression pattern of diffuse chorioretinal atrophy (DCA) among Chinese participants with high myopia.
484 participants with a mean age of 21.5±12.7 years (range, 6.8–69.7 years), 68 eyes showed DCA progression, with 88 lesion changes. The first appearance of DCA was identified in 21 eyes . Of 88 eyes with DCA at baseline, 47 eyes showed progression, with 67 lesion changes, including 45 eyes (67.2%) with enlargement of DCA, 17 with a first appearance of lacquer cracks, 4 with development of patchy chorioretinal atrophy and 1 with increased numbers of lacquer cracks. Longer axial length (p<0.001), baseline DCA (p=0.005) and baseline DCA closer to the fovea (p=0.013) predicted DCA progression. Eyes had poorer BCVA at the follow-up if DCA was enlarging (p<0.001) or DCA was closer to the fovea at baseline (p=0.028) after adjusting for age,gender and cataract.
The study concluded that the half of the participants with DCA had progression over a 4-year follow-up. Enlargement and newly developed DCA were common progression patterns. Larger areas of DCA and foveal involvement with DCA could be indicators of a worse BCVA later.
Reference: https://bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2020/08/22/bjophthalmol-2020-316691
