{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T21:09:02Z","timestamp":1769029742235,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768953600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Pathologic myopia has traditionally been viewed as a degenerative disorder caused by mechanical stretching and choroidal ischemia. However, converging clinical, molecular, and imaging data increasingly suggest that chronic low-grade inflammation contributes to both the onset and progression of myopic retinal degeneration. Recent studies have identified inflammatory patterns\u2014including multifocal choroiditis\/punctate inner choroidopathy (MFC\/PIC)\u2013like lesions, periatrophic inflammatory \u201cplumes,\u201d and secondary Multiple Evanescent White Dots Syndrome (MEWDS)\u2014often localized at sites of retinal pigment epithelium\u2013Bruch\u2019s membrane disruption. Parallel laboratory evidence indicates dysregulation of cytokines, activation of the complement cascade, and engagement of intracellular signaling pathways such as JAK\u2013STAT within the myopic eye. Together, these findings support a model in which mechanical stress and hypoxia act as triggers for sustained immune activation, promoting extracellular-matrix remodeling, choroidal thinning, and progressive atrophy. Recognizing inflammation as an integral component of the pathophysiology of pathologic myopia may open new therapeutic perspectives, including immunomodulatory or complement-targeting approaches.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2026.1745948","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T05:36:25Z","timestamp":1768973785000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Revisiting pathologic myopia: imaging evidence of an inflammatory component in the pathogenesis of myopic degeneration"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Alex","family":"Fonollosa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Cruces University Hospital, University of the Basque Country","place":["Barakaldo, Spain"]},{"name":"Department of Retina, Instituto Oftalmol\u00f3gico Bilbao","place":["Bilbao, Spain"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Joseba","family":"Artaraz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, Cruces University Hospital, University of the Basque Country","place":["Barakaldo, Spain"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1036","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ophtha.2016.01.006","article-title":"Global prevalence of myopia and high myopia and temporal trends from 2000 through 2050","volume":"123","author":"Holden","year":"2016","journal-title":"Ophthalmology"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"M20","DOI":"10.1167\/iovs.18-25957","article-title":"IMI - defining and classifying myopia: a proposed set of standards for clinical and epidemiologic 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