Meridional corneal components of myopia progression in young adults and children.

Records were selected from a data pool of myopic private practice patients to study the relation of refractive error change and keratometer power change in young adulthood. Selection was on the basis of three or more refractions and keratometer readings at and/or after 18 years of age. There were significant correlations between rate of myopia progression and rate of keratometer power change. Linear regression slopes of rate of refractive error change on rate of keratometer power change were in the neighborhood of 0.7. These findings were in contrast to the lack of correlation between myopia increase and corneal steepening in childhood myopia progression. Young adulthood myopia progression also appeared to be accompanied by a slight tendency toward a with-the-rule astigmatic shift.