Pediatric Myopia Linked to Elevated Risk of Peripheral Retinal Pathology, New Study Finds

High myopia can lead to increased visual damage and abnormalities such as lattice degeneration. Photo: Jay M. Haynie, OD. Click image to enlarge. In a recent study, kids with higher levels of myopia demonstrated an increased risk of peripheral retinal abnormalities and pathology in routine eye exams.This retrospective cross-sectional study, published in Optometry and Vision Science, analyzed 874 pediatric patients aged six to 17 years old who underwent routine dilated eye exams over a three-year period. The cohort had a mean age of 11.1 years, with 55.4% female participants; 68.5% of subjects were Black. The researchers reviewed clinical records, including refractive error, demographic data and detailed peripheral retinal findings, and only fully documented exams with successful dilation were included.Participants were grouped by refractive error into three groups: no myopia (+1.20D), low myopia (-1.32D) and moderate-to-high myopia (≥3.00D). The researchers then evaluated both pathological findings, mentioning in their paper examples such as lattice degeneration, and non-pathological findings, such as CHRPE, RPE hyperplasia, white without pressure, dark without pressure and window defect.The authors reported that 20.2% of participants “had at least one abnormal retinal finding in at least one eye,” and 6.3% had pathological findings. The prevalence increased significantly with the severity of patients’ myopia. Among children with moderate-to-high myopia, 44.8% had abnormal findings and 17.7% had pathological findings. In comparison, only 1.8% of children without myopia had pathological findings. The odds of detecting retinal pathology were 11.5 times higher in children with ≥3.00 D of myopia compared to non-myopic children.White without pressure was the most common finding at a rate of 11.9%, while lattice degeneration was the most common pathological finding at 4.5%. Older children were more likely to have abnormalities, with mean ages of 12.6 years for those with findings versus 10.8 years for those without. Race was not significantly associated with the frequency of retinal pathology occurrences.The researchers concluded that such findings “show that children may experience peripheral retinal degenerations at similar frequencies to those established in adults” and advocated the importance of routine dilated retinal examinations in children, “particularly for those with at least moderate amounts of myopia,” to improve early detection and management of potentially vision-threatening conditions.Click here for the journal source. Ollinger MC, Bodack MI, Bromley MI. Peripheral retinal findings in a pediatric primary care optometry clinic and their associations with myopia: a 3‐year retrospective review. Optom Vis Sci. April 22, 2026. [Epub ahead of print].  This article was developed by the editorial staff in conjunction with experts in the field. In the process, AI may have been among the editorial tools used to meet the goals of human editors, who approved all content.