A biometric investigation of late onset myopic eyes.

There is a paucity of biometric information on late onset myopia (onset after 15-years-old). The present investigation compared the ocular component dimensions of 30 late onset myopes and 30 emmetropes, who were both age and sex matched. Measurement techniques included A-scan ultrasonography and keratometry. The findings revealed that the ultimate cause of late onset myopia is vitreous chamber elongation. Late onset myopes were also found to have significantly deeper anterior chambers and thinner crystalline lenses, no differences being found in corneal curvature measures. Possible mechanisms leading to these observed biometric differences are discussed in the light of recent findings.