Purpose: To determine the prevalence of fundus tessellation and associations with ocular and systemic parameters among junior students from Greater Beijing.
Methods: The school-based study included 1443 individuals with a mean age of 12.4 ± 0.5 years (range: 9-16 years). All participants underwent a comprehensive ophthalmic examination and an interview. Fundus tessellation, defined as variation in the visibility of large choroidal vessels, was differentiated into three grades.
Results: The prevalence and degree of fundus tessellation were 688/1430 (48.1%; 95% confidence intervals [CI]: 45.5%, 50.7%) and 0.54 ± 0.61 (median, 0.00; range, 0-3), respectively. In multivariable regression analysis, a higher degree of fundus tessellation was associated with reduced subfoveal choroidal thickness (P < 0.001; beta, -0.02; odds ratio [OR], 0.98; 95% CI: 0.98, 0.99) and longer axial length (P < 0.001; beta, 0.23; OR, 1.25; 95% CI: 1.10, 1.43). Subfoveal choroidal thickness decreased from 299 ± 61 μm (95% CI: 293, 304) in eyes without fundus tessellation to 246 ± 57 μm (95% CI: 241, 251), 197 ± 43 μm (95% CI: 187, 207), and 131 ± 30 μm (95% CI: 93, 168) in eyes with grade 1, 2, and 3 fundus tessellation, respectively. A higher degree of peripapillary fundus tessellation was associated with reduced subfoveal choroidal thickness (P < 0.001; beta, -0.02; OR, 0.98; 95% CI: 0.98, 0.99) and younger age at myopia onset (P = 0.008; beta, 0.41; OR, 1.51; 95% CI: 1.11, 2.04).
Conclusions: The prevalence of fundus tessellation is relatively high in Chinese teenagers. As in adults, the degree of fundus tessellation is a surrogate for choroidal thickness in teenagers. Marked fundus tessellation indicates a leptochoroid and is associated with earlier myopia onset.