What is it?
Myopia magna
This ocular pathology, also known as high myopia or pathological myopia, differs from normal myopia in that patients suffering from it have more than six diopters, as well as a greater propensity to present ocular alterations.
Magna myopia is due to an excessive elongation of the eyeball that is usually associated with a thinning of the retina. This exaggerated growth of the eye can lead to early onset of posterior vitreous detachment and is an important risk factor for retinal detachment (40% of cases occur in myopic patients). Likewise, this group of patients has a greater predisposition than the general population to develop cataracts and glaucoma more frequently.
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Patients with magna myopia are usually nearsighted since childhood. This type of myopia can progress to more than six diopters, usually stabilizing by the end of adolescence, or it can continue to progress with age. When this situation occurs, it is called degenerative myopia and should be closely monitored by an ophthalmologist to avoid major complications.
SYMPTOMS
The patient with this refractive defect presents blurred distance vision and lack of visual acuity, as well as optimal near vision, unless there is some type of macular complication. It is also common to perceive flashes of light and small spots on the retina (floaters or myodesopsia).
This pathology can lead to the appearance of various complications that compromise visual health such as:
- Retinal detachment. Patients with high myopia are at increased risk for this eye injury, which should be considered an ophthalmologic emergency.
- Choroidal neovascularization. It is the formation of new blood vessels that grow abnormally under the retina, producing a loss of vision, and whose presence is associated with serious eye diseases such as Age-Related Macular Degeneration.
- Atrophy de la retina. It affects the central area (macula) and can lead to significant vision loss.
- Early appearance of cataracts.
- Increased risk of glaucoma.
- Macular hole in the retina. Vitreous degeneration and retinal alterations are factors that occur more frequently in myopic people and influence the appearance of these breaks in the center of the retina.
Treatment
Although there is no specific treatment to cure myopia magna, there are different therapeutic options that contribute to improve the quality of life of the patient who suffers from it.
Refractive surgery with phakic intraocular lenses
Refractive surgery with phakic intraocular lenses is a solution for the correction of high myopia, an alternative to the use of glasses and/or contact lenses, which is aimed at patients whose diopters have stabilized and are not candidates for laser surgery, mainly because of their high prescription.
In complex cases
In patients with retinal tears or breaks, laser photocoagulation is indicated to prevent these lesions from evolving into retinal detachment. If this is the case, the visual problem must be treated with the utmost urgency, and vitrectomy is the recommended surgery.
The most appropriate solution for those suffering from choroidal neovascularization is intravitrealinjections to reduce the presence of fluid and macular hemorrhages.
In any of the cases described above, it is essential that the patient with myopia magna undergo periodic ophthalmologic evaluations with ophthalmologists who are experts in retina to prevent the appearance of these complications that can seriously impair vision. In order for the treatment of high myopia and its possible complications to be successful, it is essential to have the earliest possible diagnosis.
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