Refractive Error Profile of Preterm Infants at 1-Year Follow-up in a Tertiary Care Hospital.

PURPOSE: To study the refractive outcome in preterm infants with and without retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in a tertiary care hospital in North India.

METHODS

This prospective study was conducted on 300 consecutive premature infants with a birth weight of 2 kg or less and a gestational age of 34 weeks or less at birth. The infants were divided into three groups (no ROP, spontaneously regressed ROP, and laser-treated ROP) and were followed up at 1 year of age to assess the presence and type of refractive error in each group.

RESULTS

The refractive error data were available for 277 neonates (554 eyes). On cycloplegic retinoscopy at 1 year of follow-up, the incidence of myopia was 12.29%, 29.55%, and 48.83% in all three groups, respectively, being most common in the laser-treated group, and the values were statistically significant (P < .05). Moreover, high myopia was most prevalent in the laser-treated group (23.25%). A correlation between birth weight and gestational age with spherical equivalent showed that a low birth weight and a low gestational age are more commonly found in infants with a more negative spherical equivalent.

CONCLUSIONS

Infants with laser-treated ROP have a higher incidence of myopia than those with spontaneously regressed ROP or no ROP. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2022;59(3):151-155.].