Abstract

Purpose: To determine the types of peripheral retinal degenerations in highly myopic Iraqi patients
Design: cross sectional study
Participants: Two hundred patients with high myopia attending the outpatient clinic of ophthalmologic department
in Alkadhimyia teaching hospital in Baghdad and AL-Sadr teaching hospital in Basrah from the period of July 2008
to march 2010.
Methods: Each patient was examined thoroughly starting with visual acuity and refraction to determine the degree
of myopia followed by anterior segment examination to exclude media opacity and inflammatory eye diseases then
the pupil was dilated and the vitreous with the peripheral retina were examined by the indirect ophthalmoscope and
then by the three mirror.
Results: One hundred twenty two (61%) patients were found to have posterior vitreous detachment. The peripheral
retina showed the following types of retinal changes and degenerations: 66(33%) patients had pigment clumps,
54(27%) patients had paving stone degeneration, 24(12%) patients had snow flakes degenerations, 20(10%) patients
had lattice degeneration, 10(5%) patients had peripheral cystoids degeneration, 6(3%) patients had white without
pressure degeneration and only 20(10%) patients had normal peripheral retina.
Conclusions: high myopia is a pathological condition that predisposes the patient to peripheral retinal
degenerations. Most of the patients in the study group had a benign type of degeneration while a minority had a more
serious type of degeneration. Three mirror examinations is important in high myopia to detect these degenerations
and to prevent eventual complications.