Question

Which one of the following is the serious complication of degenerative myopia in the eye?

• A. Retinal detachment
• B. Vitreous liquefaction
• C. Myopic crescent
• D. Posterior staphyloma

Hint:

Retinal thinning and vitreous traction in high myopia raise the risk of the most sight-threatening complication.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The question asks which listed change in degenerative (pathological) myopia is the serious, sight-threatening complication rather than a background structural finding.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Degenerative myopia causes the eyeball to grow too long along its axis, and this stretching thins and weakens the retina, choroid, and sclera at the back of the eye.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
The stretched, thinned retina develops weak areas such as lattice degeneration, and the vitreous gel pulls away from the retina earlier than usual, creating traction on these weak spots; together these changes markedly raise the risk of retinal tears and full retinal detachment, which causes sudden and severe vision loss and needs urgent treatment.
Vitreous liquefaction, the vitreous gel turning more watery with age related and myopic change, is itself just a background change and does not directly threaten vision by itself.
Myopic crescent, a crescent shaped patch of atrophy next to the optic disc from stretching of the tissue there, is a structural sign of long standing myopia but does not itself cause a sudden loss of vision.
Posterior staphyloma, an outward bulge of the weakened back wall of the eye, is also a structural change from progressive stretching, and while it reflects severe disease, it does not on its own produce the acute, sight-threatening event that a retinal detachment does.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Retinal detachment is the serious complication of degenerative myopia.