Choroidal vascularity features of fundus tessellation in adults with high myopia

Abstract Background To investigate alterations in choroidal vascularity among highly myopic adults with fundus tessellation, utilizing optical coherence tomography. Methods Total of 143 highly myopic adults (234 eyes) with fundus tessellation were collected in this retrospective study, which was stratified into different lesion groups based on the novel tessellated classification. Subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT), luminal area (LA), stromal area (SA), total choroidal area (TCA), and choroidal vascularity index (CVI) were analyzed utilizing optical coherence tomography (OCT) with enhanced depth imaging (EDI) mode, enabling precise quantification of these parameters. Results Comparison analysis demonstrated notable distinctions in spherical equivalent (SE), axial length (AL), and SFCT across the four tessellated grades (p < 0.001). Considerations of the choroidal vascularity parameters, LA, TCA, CVI were significant differences among the four groups (p  0.05). Logistic regression analyses illustrated that the higher grade of tessellated exhibited a positive association with AL (OR = 1.701, p = 0.027), while negatively associated with SFCT (OR = 0.416, p = 0.007), LA (OR = 0.438, p = 0.010) and CVI (OR = 0.529, p = 0.004). Multiple regression analyses demonstrated a significant negative association between CVI and both SE and AL after adjusting for age, while positively associated with SFCT (p < 0.05). Conclusion Subtle choroidal vascularity changes may have a meaningful contribution to the development and progression of fundus tessellation. CVI and LA were dramatically decreased during the early tessellation development and maintained relatively stable status when developing into severity tessellated grades.