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©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jan 26, 2026; 14(3): 117257
Published online Jan 26, 2026. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v14.i3.117257
Published online Jan 26, 2026. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v14.i3.117257
Ocular health in outer space and beyond gravity: A minireview
Srishti Khullar, Department of Ophthalmology, Military Hospital, Agra 282001, Uttar Pradesh, India
Arvind Kumar Morya, Department of Ophthalmology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad 508126, Telangāna, India
Sarita Aggarwal, Department of Ophthalmology, Santosh University Ghaziabad, Ghaziabad 201009, Uttar Pradesh, India
Twinkle Gupta, Department of Ophthalmology, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi 110001, Delhi, India
Priyanka Priyanka, Department of Ophthalmology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal 462020, Madhya Pradesh, India
Rannusha Morya, Department of Psychology, Manipal University, Jaipur 303007, Rājasthān, India
Author contributions: Khullar S contributed to the results and discussion, focusing on the epidemiology, mechanisms, and pathophysiology of space-related ocular changes; Khullar S and Morya AK conceptualized the review and designed the overall structure of the minireview; Morya AK and Morya R wrote the conclusion, provided critical revision of the entire manuscript, and oversaw overall supervision of the review; Aggarwal S authored the introduction and methods, including the search strategy and selection criteria; Gupta T authored the sections on operational impact, diagnostic approaches, countermeasures, and classification challenges; Priyanka P and Morya R contributed to the literature search, data organization, drafting of summary tables and figures, and refinement of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Arvind Kumar Morya, PhD, Additional Professor, Consultant, Principal Investigator, Researcher, Senior Researcher, Department of Ophthalmology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bibi Nagar, Hyderabad 508126, Telangāna, India.
Received: December 3, 2025
Revised: December 17, 2025
Accepted: December 26, 2025
Published online: January 26, 2026
Processing time: 50 Days and 20.9 Hours
Revised: December 17, 2025
Accepted: December 26, 2025
Published online: January 26, 2026
Processing time: 50 Days and 20.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Vision is mission-critical in human spaceflight. Prolonged exposure to microgravity causes a distinct set of ocular changes known as spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome. These include optic disc edema, posterior globe flattening, choroidal folds, retinal nerve fiber layer thickening, and hyperopic refractive shifts. Evidence suggests spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome arises from cephalad fluid shifts, venous congestion, and altered cerebrospinal fluid dynamics rather than raised intracranial pressure alone. Advances in in-flight imaging and artificial intelligence are improving early detection, making ocular health central to safe space exploration and neuro-ophthalmic research.