Background Understanding how strabismus impacts a child’s quality of life, as well as their families, should be an important key to guide treatment, not only from the ophthalmological point of view but also regarding psychological and social aspects, which are fundamental for a healthy and harmonious development. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed to evaluate the functional vision and eye-related quality of life (ER-QOL) in a population of children with strabismus submitted or not to corrective surgery, using the recently developed Pediatric Eye Questionnaire (PedEyeQ) and to compare with age and gender-matched visually normal children. The PedEyeQ was applied to non-operated children with strabismus (n = 18), operated children with strabismus (n = 24), and visually normal children (n = 21). This instrument is composed of 3 components (Child, Proxy, and Parent) and has different versions according to the child’s age (0–4, 5–11, or 12–17 years-old versions). Clinical data such as age, type of strabismus, angle of deviation, amblyopia, occlusion treatment, and surgical outcome were also recorded. Results All PedEyeQ domain scores were significantly lower in children with strabismus compared with visually normal children, except the Child “functional vision” domain. Children with strabismus with successful corrective surgery had significantly lower scores in many domains of the Child, Proxy, and Parent components, compared with visually normal children. Conclusion This study showed that strabismus has an important impact on affected children and their families, as assessed by PedEyeQ. Interestingly, children with prior successful corrective strabismus surgery had worse PedEyeQ scores compared to visually normal children. Educational programs and psychosocial rehabilitation interventions should be implemented in children with strabismus and their families.

Purpose: To evaluate haematological parameters as possible biomarkers of the development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Methods: Multicenter, observational, and prospective study of preterm infants (PTI) from eight NICU, born in Portugal with gestational age (GA) < 32 weeks or birth weight (BW) <1500 g. ROP staging performed according to the International Classification of ROP (ICROP). Sociodemographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected from the first week of life. Complete blood count (CBC) was determined according to standardized methods. According to the maximum stage of ROP, PTI were divided into four groups: without ROP, ROP stage 1 (ROP‐1), ROP stage 2 (ROP‐2) and ROP stage 3 (ROP‐3). Statistical analysis was performed with the SPSS program with significant value for p < 0.05. Results: 455 PTI were included, GA average of 29.5 ± 2.3 weeks, BW average of 1165.7 ± 313.9 grams and 50.5% were female. In this study 37.8% of the PTI developed ROP: 20% had ROP‐1, 9.4% ROP‐2 and 8.4% ROP‐3. 4.6% of PTI received treatment: laser was performed in 12 PTI (2.6%), anti‐VEGF in 7 PTI (1.5%), anti‐VEGF and laser in 1 PTI (0.2%), and anti‐VEGF, laser, and surgery in 1 PTI (0.2%). ROP‐3 was significantly associated with lower GA (p = <0.001), BW (p < 0.001), erythrocytes (p < 0.001), haemoglobin (p < 0.001), haematocrit (p < 0.001), lymphocyte (p = 0.047) and lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR) (p = 0.018) compared with the other groups. Neutrophils (p = 0.039) and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (p < 0.001) were higher in ROP‐3. For PTI who did not develop ROP were observed, in relation with the other groups: higher mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) (p < 0.001), platelets (p = 0.029) and plateletcrit (PCT) (p = 0.007) and lower red cell distribution width (RDW) (p = 0.015) and erythroblast (p < 0.001). Conclusions: This study shows that the increase in neutrophils, NLR, and RDW and the decrease in lymphocytes, LMR, erythrocytes, and platelets may constitute early and low‐cost predictive biomarkers of ROP development.

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