The Association Between Retinopathy of Prematurity and Ocular Growth

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to prospectively investigate the association between retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and ocular growth in premature infants during the earliest weeks of life. METHODS. Premature infants in the national ROP screening program were recruited and examined at 1-or 2-week intervals between 30 and 38 weeks of postmenstrual age. One hundred infants with gestational age (GA) between 24 and 35 weeks (30.04 þ 2.13), and birth weight (BW) between 550 and 2060 g (1251.45 þ 317.19) were included in the study. At each examination, the presence, stage, and zone of ROP were recorded along with axial length (AL), central corneal thickness (CCT), and weight gain. Biometric parameters were measured by A-scan biometry. Study variables included GA, BW, AL, CCT, weight gain, relative weight (RW), and dif_AL, dif_CCT, and dif_weight, which are the differences between two consecutive recordings of the same infant. Multiple regression analysis models were used to determine the association between the study variables and ROP. RESULTS. dif_AL, dif_CCT, and RW were the most appropriate variables to detect the optimal threshold points that discriminate ROP: weekly increase of AL < 0.095 mm, weekly reduction of CCT < 0.5 lm, or weekly weight gain < 7% is associated with ROP development. CONCLUSIONS. ROP is associated with delayed ocular development, as eyes of premature infants with ROP have shorter axial lengths and thicker corneas than eyes of premature infants without ROP. The association of AL, CCT, and weight gain with ROP could be of value for future development of predictive models for ROP.

Meta-analysis of ocular axial length in newborns and infants up to 3 years of age

“…16 Kardaras stated that a preterm infant with ROP has a slower growth rate than a preterm infant without it: 0.11 mm/week vs 0.24mm/week, during weeks 30 to 38 gestational age. 17 So these eyes grow slower, and Laws observed that the more severe the ROP, the smaller the axial length. 21 This was confirmed by Özdemir, who also described a shorter axial length in ROP infants.…”

“…The standard deviation values were obtained by personal communication. 17 Axer-Siegel investigated into whether in vitro fertilization would have an effect on axial length growth. As it did not have an effect, we included both the IVF and normally conceived children.…”

Association of Birth Weight with Central and Peripheral Corneal Thickness in Adulthood—Results from the Population-Based German Gutenberg Health Study

“…LBW and prematurity are both associated with altered ocular morphologic development leading to several unique ocular sequelae in childhood. Former preterm LBW children have altered postnatal corneal thickness [1][2][3] and increased corneal steepness [4][5][6][7][8], smaller anterior chamber depth [4,6], increased lens thickness [4], and smaller axial length [5,8]. Especially anterior segment alterations may persist until adulthood.…”

“…There are few reports analyzing corneal thickness in former preterm LBW children with or without Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) while the long-term effects up to adulthood are hardly understood. Different studies observed an increased CCT in preterm newborns compared to full-term newborns [1][2][3]10], followed by a longitudinal thinning [11]. Others detected that birth weight (BW) is negatively correlated with CCT [12,13].…”

“…Others detected that birth weight (BW) is negatively correlated with CCT [12,13]. Furthermore, ROP was found as additional factor contributing to an increased CCT in newborns independent of prematurity [3]. Few studies exist analyzing the association of BW with corneal thickness in childhood [14] and adolescence [15,16].…”