Intraocular pressure in anisometropic children

Background: There is evidence that intraocular pressure (IOP) is higher in myopes than in hyperopes or emmetropes, and it has been suggested that myop ia may be the result of a high IOP. We studied IOP in the two eyes of aniso metropes, thus controlling for nuisance variables affecting IOP measurement . Methods: Sixty-seven Chinese children, aged between 8 and 14 years, with anisometropia not <2 D were studied. A Topcon CT-60 noncontact tonometer wa s used for IOP measurement. Cycloplegia was achieved using two drops of tro picamide 1%, and retinoscopy was performed after residual accommodation had decreased to <2 D. A-scan ultrasonography was carried out using a Storz Al pha II Biometric Ruler. Results: There were no statistically significant di fferences in IOP between the less myopic and more myopic eyes. Conclusions: Refractive error and axial length differences in anisometropic children ar e not related to differences in IOP and seem more likely to be due to genet ically determined discrepancies in scleral structure, as previously propose d. (Optom Vis Sci 2000;77:675-679).