ARVO LIVE: Relationship between optic disc fovea distance, axial length and disc

Ophthalmology Times® talked Nevin El-Nimri, MS, OD, PhD, FAAO, about the relationship between optic disc fovea distance, axial length and disc at this year's ARVO meeting.

Video transcript

Editor’s note: Transcript lightly edited for clarity.

Nevin El-Nimri, MS, OD, PhD, FAAO:

I have a poster on site along with several colleagues titled "Understanding the Relationship Between Optic Disc Fovea Distance, Axial Length and Disc Area."

In this study, we have measured the distance between the optic disc center and fovea, and we also evaluated the correlation between that distance and derived axial length as well as optic disk area.

Using Topcon Maestro2 Spectral Domain OCT, we measured the distance between the optic disc center and fovea in healthy glaucoma suspect and glaucoma patients. We derive the axial length using the reference meter position of the SD OCT data capture within plus or minus 1mm error.

We have done the correlation, or calculated the correlation, between the optic disc fovea distance and the derived axial length as well as the optic disc area before and after correcting for ocular magnification. Before ocular magnification, we found a negative correlation between the optic disc fovea area and the derived axial length and a positive correlation between that distance and the optic disc area.

However, that relationship has reversed after correcting for ocular magnification, where we found that the optic disc fovea distance, increased with longer axial length and larger optic disc area.

Future studies are needed to evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of the optic disc fovea distance. And we believe that this work is of interest for the process of emmetropization and myopia development.