High Myopia and Thickness of Extraocular and Masticatory Muscles—7T MRI, Preliminary Study

Abstract

(1) Background: Myopia is one of the most common refractive errors in the world. The aim of this study was to evaluate the transverse dimensions of selected masticatory muscles (temporalis muscle and masseter muscle) versus the transverse dimensions of selected extraocular muscles (superior rectus, inferior rectus, medial rectus and lateral rectus) in emmetropic and high myopic subjects. (2) Methods: Twenty-seven individuals were included in the analysis, resulting in 24 eyeballs of patients with high myopia and 30 eyeballs of emmetropic subjects. A 7 Tesla resonance was used to analyze the described muscles. (3) Results: Statistical analysis showed differences in all analyzed extraocular muscles and all analyzed masticatory muscles between emmetropic subjects and high myopic subjects. In the high myopic subject group, statistical analysis showed four correlations. The three negative correlations were between the lateral rectus muscle and an axial length eyeball, refractive error and an axial length eyeball, and the inferior rectus muscle and visual acuity. The positive correlation was between the lateral rectus muscle and the medial rectus muscle. (4) Conclusions: The high myopic subjects are characterized by a larger cross-sectional area of extraocular muscles and masticatory muscles compared to the emmetropic subjects. Correlations were observed between the thickness of the extraocular muscles and the masticatory muscles. The lateral rectus muscle was related to the length of the eyeball. The phenomenon requires further study.