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Pathologic Myopia

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Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology

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Synonyms

Degenerative myopia

Definition

Myopia (shortsightedness or nearsightedness) is a refractive error where light is focused in front of the retina, instead of on retina itself, leading to blurring of distant objects.

Myopia can be classified as simple (physiologic) and pathologic (or degenerative). Eyes with simple myopia have a refractive error of less than 6 diopters (D) and lack pathological changes, whereas eyes with pathologic myopia (PM) present a refractive error of at least 6 D and/or axial length greater than 26.5 mm in association with degenerative changes occurring especially in the posterior segment of the globe.

Etiology

The etiology of PM is still unclear, but both hereditary and environmental factors seem to play a role. It may be determined by genetic factors to a greater extent than simple myopia and the genetic profile of PM might differ from that of simple myopia.

Several evidences suggested a genetic role in myopia. Twin studies have shown high concordance for...

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References

  • Battaglia Parodi M, Iacono P, Bolognesi G, Bandello F (2014) Optical coherence tomography in myopic choroidal neovascularization. In: Coscas G, Loewenstein A, Bandello F (eds) Optical coherence tomography. ESASO course series, vol 4. Karger, Basel, pp 117–122

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  • Battaglia Parodi M, Iacono P, Bandello F (2016) Correspondence of leakage of fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography parameters in diagnosis and monitoring of myopic choroidal neovascularization treated with bevacizumab. Retina 36(1):104–109

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  • Curtin BJ (1985) The myopias: basic science and clinical management. Harper and Row, Philadelphia

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  • Spaide RF, Ohno-Matsui K, Yannuzzi LA (2014) Pathological myopia. Springer, New York

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  • Wong TY, Ohno-Matsui K, Leveziel N, Holz FG, Lai TY, Yu HG, Lanzetta P, Chen Y, Tufail A (2015) Myopic choroidal neovascularization: current concepts and update on clinical management. Br J Ophthalmol 99(3):289–296

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, University Vita-Salute, San Raffaele Hospital, Via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Italy

    Maurizio Battaglia Parodi & Alessandro Rabiolo

Authors
  1. Maurizio Battaglia Parodi
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  2. Alessandro Rabiolo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maurizio Battaglia Parodi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Ophthal & Optometry,AKH, Medical University of Wien Dept of Ophthal & Optometry,AKH, Wien, Austria

    Ursula Schmidt-Erfurth

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main Department of Ophthalmology, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Thomas Kohnen

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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Parodi, M.B., Rabiolo, A. (2015). Pathologic Myopia. In: Schmidt-Erfurth, U., Kohnen, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_1123-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_1123-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-35951-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

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