Detection of optic disc abnormalities using retro-mode scanning laser ophthalmoscopy.

Purpose: To determine whether retro-mode scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (RMSLO) can detect optic disc abnormalities in highly myopic eyes.

Study design: A retrospective clinical study.

Methods: Patients with high myopia who had undergone RMSLO imaging and optic disc-centered optical coherence tomographic (OCT) examinations between July and September 2022 were studied. The existence and extent of the hyporeflective areas in the RMSLO images were determined. The OCT images were used to detect lamina cribrosa (LC) abnormalities, and the correspondence of the LC abnormalities to the location of the hyporeflective areas in the RMSLO images was determined.

Results: Thirty-eight eyes of 21 patients with high myopia were studied. The mean age of the patients was 58.6±12.3 years, and the mean axial length was 30.54±1.96 mm. Hyporeflective areas were detected on the optic nerve head in the RMSLO images in 37 eyes (97.4%). In these 37 eyes, OCT detected defects of the LC and enlarged LC pores corresponding to the hyporeflective areas. The maximum width of the LC abnormalities in the OCT images corresponded to the extent of the hyporeflective areas in the RMSLO images.

Conclusions: RMSLO can obtain images with hyporeflective areas on the optic disc in highly myopic eyes that correspond to areas of LC defects observed in the OCT images. RMSLO imaging can detect the enlarged LC pores as hyporeflective abnormalities. We conclude that RMSLO is helpful in detecting abnormalities of the LC of the optic disc.