High Myopia and Thin Retina in 2.5 year old toddler

My 2.5 year old son was just diagnosed with high Myopia: -8.5 right eye and -9.25 left eye, as measured by the opthalmolist that looked into his eyes through a special devise (before and after she dilated my son's pupil) and looking with a lense and kind of a small flash light in my son's eyes. He also has astigmatism of 1.5 both eyes and very thin retina.

I am myotic (max -2.5) and astigmatic (-1.5) and my sisters have higher myopia (-8, -10). My husband is not myopic, but his sister is at -6. None of these had such high myopia as my son when they were little kids.

The questions I would like to ask and would much appreciate getting an answer are:
1) Could the myopia of my son get so high because both myself and my husband have genes of myopia, so kind of a cummulative effect?...
2) My son was bort at 37 week (3 week before term), could this be a determining factor of his high myopia?
3) During pregnancy and breastfeeding (1 year) I followed a treatment with hydroxichloroquine, for a connective tissue disease, at my London reumatologist recommendation that it is safe in pregnancy and breastfeeding. Could the hydroxichloroquine have played a role in determining or worsening my son's myopia or retina?
4) What can I do to improve my son's vision: stop progressing/regress the myopia and protect the retina and back of the eye?
5) Is it true that the high myopia may affect the back of the eye, which could hamper my son to have Lasik surgery (or any other kind of surgery the medical technology may come up with in the next years...)?

Thanks a million for your answers and God bless you.

Erga

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

1. The inheritance of high myopia is not understood well and you can't tell. Don't blame yourselves. I'm myopic and both my parents were hyperopic.
2. Low birth rate and prematurity are risk factors for high myopia
3. NO
4. Use the search feature and archives to rean the many many informative posts about high myopia and trying to stop it. (nothing works for sure )
5. Lasik is based on corneal thickness and curvature. Any myopic degerative problems on the back of the eye will not be helped by lasik but need not prevent lasik from being done

JCH MD