High myopia

What is high myopia?

Myopia is a refractive defect or error in visual focusing. Images are focused in front of the retina and not on it, making long distance vision difficult.

When the visual error exceeds eight dioptres, it is referred to as high myopia.

High myopia affects about 2% of the population and results in a greater predisposition to suffer from certain eye disorders.

These disorders include:

• Retinal detachment.
• Degeneration of the central retina caused by atrophic patches.
• Growth of blood vessels beneath the retina in the macular area.
• Myopic macular hole.
• Separation of the layers of the macular retina (schisis).

These conditions can cause significant visual disability and directly affect the quality of life of patients, especially when they are of working age.

What causes it?

It occurs when the eyeball is elongated or the cornea is more curved than usual.

People with a family history of the disease are more likely to suffer from it.

What are the symptoms?

A myopic person sees objects clearly if they are close up, but blurred if they are at a distance.

Patients with high myopia often complain of seeing wavy lines or opaque spots in their field of vision and a loss of visual acuity.

Patients with high myopia require regular eye examinations to check for damage to the retina since, in many cases, symptoms are not evident.

How can it be prevented?

It is not possible to prevent myopia, but regular eye check-ups can facilitate early diagnosis and treatment of associated complications.

	Healthy eye
	Eye with high myopia

How can it be treated?

Unlike those who have mild myopia, patients with high myopia are usually discouraged from having laser surgery on the surface or internal layers of the cornea.

The best option for high myopia sufferers is phakic intraocular lens implantation (between the cornea and the crystalline lens).

For cases in which high myopia is associated with macular pathologies, correction can be achieved through intravitreal injections or ocular microsurgery.

Lente fáquica

¿Cómo se puede prevenir?

No hay forma de prevenir la miopía, aunque las revisiones oculares periódicas pueden ayudar al diagnóstico y tratamiento precoz de complicaciones asociadas.

Treatments

• Intraocular lens implantation