Association of birth weight with corneal aberrations in adulthood – Results from a population-based study

The role of preterm birth, retinopathy of prematurity and perinatal factors on corneal aberrations in adulthood: Results from the Gutenberg prematurity eye study

“…Previous authors have reported that the influence of corneal aberrations on visual perception is small compared with myopia and astigmatism 44 . The Wiesbaden Prematurity Study found no significant correlation between corneal aberrations and visual acuity, 4 while the Gutenberg Health Study observed only a small effect size between low BW and corneal aberrations in adulthood, hypothesising that altered corneal aberrations in adults born with low BW are of subclinical importance 23. This study showed an association between total corneal aberrations and lower visual acuity indicating that altered corneal aberrations contribute, together with other factors such as foveal alterations and foveal developmental delay, 9,22 to an increased risk of lower visual acuity in adults born preterm, particularly those treated postnatally for ROP.…”

“…3 In a recent report of the population-based Gutenberg Health Study of 5628 participants, low BW (<2500 g) was associated with increased corneal HOAs and LOAs and increased spherical aberration, but these results were limited by missing data on gestational age and postnatal ROP occurrence. 23 Consequently, this study provides the first data about the long-term effects taking into account various perinatal factors and determining their influence on corneal shape. This analysis revealed that ROP treatment contributes to increased HOAs and LOAs, while ROP occurrence was not associated with corneal aberrations in multivariable analyses.…”

“…Ecsedy and colleagues examined 27 (50 eyes) children born preterm and 34 (68 eyes) children born full‐term aged 7–14 years in a prospective case‐control study, reporting increased HOAs in preterm children, although the study group was heterogeneous in terms of ROP occurrence and treatment 3 . In a recent report of the population‐based Gutenberg Health Study of 5628 participants, low BW (<2500 g) was associated with increased corneal HOAs and LOAs and increased spherical aberration, but these results were limited by missing data on gestational age and postnatal ROP occurrence 23 . Consequently, this study provides the first data about the long‐term effects taking into account various perinatal factors and determining their influence on corneal shape.…”

“…[13][14][15] One explanation for altered corneal geometry is the lower extrauterine temperature after preterm birth compared to the higher intrauterine temperature in the maternal environment leading to reduced corneal flattening. 16 In a recent report of the Gutenberg Health Study, the authors reported that low birth weight (<2500 g), as a proxy for preterm delivery, is linked with reduced visual acuity, 17 steeper corneal shape, 18 altered ocular geometry [18][19][20][21][22] and increased corneal aberrations 23 compared to adults with a normal birth weight (2500-4000 g) between 40 and 80 years of age. However, these data were limited because gestational age and the postnatal occurrence of ROP were not surveyed.…”

Augenärztliche Versorgung ehemaliger früh- und reifgeborener Personen im Erwachsenenalter – Ergebnisse der Gutenberg Prematurity Eye Study (GPES)

“…In einer kürzlich veröffentlichten Studie berichteten die Autoren, dass jedes zweite früh-und reifgeborene Kind auch nach dem Erreichen des sechsten Lebensjahres noch in regelmäßiger augenärztlicher Kontrolle ist [20]. Zusätzlich deuten neueste Daten darauf hin, dass Personen mit niedrigem Geburtsgewicht (< 2500 g), welches als Surrogatmarker für Frühgeburtlichkeit zählt, eine reduzierte Sehschärfe [28], erhöhte myope Brechkraftfehler [28], ein gehäuftes Auftreten von Augenerkrankungen [13,22] sowie Veränderungen der Augengeometrie [24,[29][30][31][32] tionsalgorithmus sind bereits anderswo beschrieben [12, 14-19, 23, 25-27] und in . Abb.…”