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Short- and Long-Term Follow-Up of Ophthalmological Findings in Preterm Infants and Children

In a prospective population-based study in Stockholm County, 1998-2000, the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) was investigated and was found to be 36% in prematurely-born infants with a birth weight of ≤ 1500 grams. Compared to a study performed ten years ago, the overall incidence was unchanged, but was reduced in “mature” infants and increased in immature ones. The incidence of ROP was 25% in infants with a gestational age of ≤ 32 weeks at birth. The main risk factors for ROP were the gestational age at birth, followed by the birth weight. Current guidelines for ROP screening in Sweden were modified. A 10-year follow-up study of the ophthalmological findings in prematurely-born children, previously included in a prospective population-based incidence study of ROP, was performed. The children were compared with full-term ones. Prematurely-born children ran a four times higher risk of refractive errors than full-term ones. The cryotreated children had the highest risk, but those without ROP also had more refractive errors than the full-terms. Within the group of prematurely-born children, the cryotreated ones had the highest prevalence of myopia, astigmatism and anisometropia, but no difference was found regarding hypermetropia. The visual acuity of prematurely-born children was poorer than that of the full-terms. The cryotreated children and those with neurological complications had the most marked reduction, but the children without ROP and neurological findings also had a poorer visual outcome than the full-terms. The prevalence of visual impairment was 1.8% among the prematurely-born children, and was due to ROP in half the cases and cerebral lesions in the others. The cryotreated children had constricted peripheral visual fields compared to the untreated prematurely-born and full-term children. The central visual fields tended to be reduced in the prematurely-born children compared to the full-terms, but no difference was observed within the preterm group.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-3994
Date January 2004
CreatorsLarsson, Eva
PublisherUppsala universitet, Oftalmiatrik, Uppsala : Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeDoctoral thesis, comprehensive summary, info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
RelationComprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Medicine, 0282-7476 ; 1323

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