Effectiveness of Orthokeratology in Myopia Control

The high prevalence of myopia - especially in Asian countries - is well documented, as are the sight-threatening complications of high or degenerative myopia. Retinal detachment, glaucoma, vitreal degeneration and focal retinal changes may occur secondary to the progressive axial elongation of the eye with age. Specialty rigid lenses have long been shown to lessen this progression in the pediatric population; orthokeratology (ortho-k) lenses are worn at night and change the corneal topography to correct low to moderate amounts of myopia. Most of the studies on orthokeratology were conducted on Asian children. To the best of the investigators knowledge, no study has been done on African American (AA) children. The investigators' project seeks to investigate the efficacy of ortho-k in slowing axial elongation and myopic progression in AA children compared to that in other races.