Accommodative changes in anterior chamber depth in patients with high myopia

To study the accommodative changes in the central anterior chamber depth (ACD) in patients with high myopia using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT).Cataract Surgery Department and Clinical & Functional Diagnostics Department, S. Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Complex-Federal State Institution, Moscow, Russian Federation.Prospective case-control study.The ACD measurements were obtained in the nonaccommodative state (baseline) and during accommodation using the Visante AS-OCT device.Thirty-six myopic eyes (36 patients; mean age 27 years; mean spherical equivalent (SE) -12.52 diopters [D]) and 31 emmetropic eyes (31 subjects; mean age 26 years; mean SE -0.39 D) were examined. At baseline, the mean ACD in both groups was similar. During accommodation, the mean maximum changes in the ACD were significantly less pronounced in the myopia group (-0.14 mm ± 0.07 [SD]; range -0.03 to -0.29 mm) than in the emmetropia group (-0.22 ± 0.08 mm; range -0.04 to -0.35 mm) (P<.0001). Ten patients in the myopia group had a critically shallow anterior chamber (ACD <2.8 mm) in the state of accommodation.Accommodative changes in the ACD were significantly less pronounced in eyes with high myopia than in emmetropic eyes. Still, the anterior chamber might become critically shallow during accommodation in some myopic eyes, and this should be taken into account when planning phakic intraocular lens implantation to correct high myopia.No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.