AIM: To investigate the relationship between retinal nerve fiber layer(RNFL)thickness and spherical equivalent(SE)refraction and axial length(AL)in juvenile myopic patients.

METHODS: Totally 100 cases(200 eyes)of juvenile myopia diagnosed in our hospital from December 2015 to December 2017 were selected. Patients were divided referring to the SE, in which 34 cases(68 eyes)with SE <-3.00D were divided into low myopia group, 36 cases(72 eyes)with -3.00D≤SE≤-6.00D were divided into moderate myopia group, 30 cases(60 eyes)with SE>-6.00D were divided into high myopia group. And 30 patients(60 eyes)with normal visual acuity were selected as the control group. The average RNFL of the whole visual field and the RNFL of upper visual field, inferior visual field, nasal visual field, and temporal visual field were measured by optical coherence tomography(OCT). AL was measured by A-scan. Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between the average RNFL thickness of whole visual field and the absolute value of SE and AL.

RESULTS: The average RNFL of the whole visual field and the RNFL of upper visual field, inferior visual field, nasal visual field, and temporal visual field in three myopia groups were significantly lower than those of the control group, the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05). The RNFL of four visual fields in three myopia groups decreased in turn(P<0.05). The SE of the three myopia groups increased in turn(P<0.05). And the SE of three myopia groups were significantly higher than those of control group, the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05). The AL of control group, low myopia group, moderate myopia group, and high myopia group increased in turn with significant differences(P<0.05). The average RNFL of the whole visual field was negatively correlated with the absolute value of SE(r=-0.564,P<0.001)and AL(r=-0.423, P<0.001).

CONCLUSION: RNFL thickness was negatively correlated with SE but positively correlated with AL, suggesting that juvenile with thinner RNFL thickness has more severe myopia.