Comparison of ocular component growth curves among refractive error groups in children.

PURPOSE: To compare ocular component growth curves among four refractive error groups in children. methods Cycloplegic refractive error was categorized into four groups: persistent emmetropia between -0.25 and +1.00 D (exclusive) in both the vertical and horizontal meridians on all study visits (n = 194); myopia of at least -0.75 D in both meridians on at least one visit (n = 247); persistent hyperopia of at least +1.00 D in both meridians on all visits (n = 43); and emmetropizing hyperopia of at least +1.00 D in both meridians on at least the first but not at all visits (n = 253). Subjects were seen for three visits or more between the ages of 6 and 14 years. Growth curves were modeled for the persistent emmetropes to describe the relation between age and the ocular components and were applied to the other three refractive error groups to determine significant differences. results At baseline, eyes of myopes and persistent emmetropes differed in vitreous chamber depth, anterior chamber depth, axial length, and corneal power and produced growth curves that showed differences in the same ocular components. Persistent hyperopes were significantly different from persistent emmetropes in most components at baseline, whereas growth curve shapes were not significantly different, with the exception of anterior chamber depth (slower growth in persistent hyperopes compared with emmetropes) and axial length (lesser annual growth per year in persistent hyperopes compared with emmetropes). The growth curve shape for corneal power was different between the emmetropizing hyperopes and persistent emmetropes (increasing corneal power compared with decreasing power in emmetropes). conclusions Comparisons of growth curves between persistent emmetropes and three other refractive error groups showed that there are many similarities in the growth patterns for both the emmetropizing and persistent hyperopes, whereas the differences in growth lie mainly between the emmetropes and myopes.