On Dec. 16, Jefferson Doyle, M.B.B.Ch., M.D., Ph.D., M.H.S. will present on the current state of myopia treatment as part of a co-presentation on Pediatric Challenges: Myopia and Retinopathy of Prematurity at EyeCon 2022 in Marco Island, Florida. Doyle is an assistant professor of ophthalmology and genetics  at Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine who specializes in pediatric ophthalmology and genetic eye diseases.

We spoke to Doyle to learn a bit about his presentation in advance of the conference.

Can you tell us what you’ll be talking about at EyeCon?

Over the last couple of decades there’s been a huge explosion in the incidence of myopia. I think that in the coming decades, we’re going to start to experience more complications from it in those who are high myopes. Asia’s been the hardest hit so far, but recent data suggest the U.S. is trending in that same direction. I think there’s recognition of that, and as a result, there’s a lot of interest in treatment options. There are a number of different treatment modalities, including public health measures, optical interventions, pharmacological interventions and then combinations of those different interventions.

What constitutes high myopia?

High myopia is usually defined as myopia with a refractive error greater than -6. It can progressively worsen to higher powers of myopia.

What are the complications that can arise from high myopia?

There is an increased risk of glaucoma, cataracts and optic nerve changes, which can be glaucomatous or independent of glaucoma. There are retinal complications as well, so there’s a range of complications that can occur. When myopia is developing to a high degree in relatively young people — in their teens, twenties, or thirties — these complications can be developing and can significantly impair quality of life and economic productivity for these patients.

You mentioned that Asia has been hardest hit. To what do you attribute that?

There’s a lot of work that’s been done at the epidemiological level and also at a preclinical animal model level. There are certain individuals that have a predisposition, so family history plays a role, but it can’t all relate to that, because this huge population explosion has occurred too quick on an evolutionary scale to simply be a genetic phenomenon. It has to have an environmental component as well, so the answer would probably be some combination of genetics and environment. Intense education and lack of outdoor activity are two of the big ones that are on people’s radar.

One of the more recent questions people have asked about is screen time and a lot of near cell phone use. I think the data’s not yet clear on those yet, but given COVID and kids doing a lot of work on computers and the use of cell phones, I think it’s a very active and important question.

What do you hope the audience will come away with from your presentation?

The main take home is to get a sense of where the field stands at the moment. If you have a child who is an early myope, or a parent who has significant myopia and is wondering what’s best for their kids, to understand what the current options are and what is coming down the pipeline and to know where things stand as patients come in and ask these questions.