[Ophthalmologic evaluation at the age of 2 years of newborn infants hospitalized in the neonatology center at Rennes].

The eyes of 1 466 children (88.3% of the total) who were admitted to the Centre for premature babies and the neonatal intensive care unit at Rennes between 1973-1975 were re-examined at the age of 2 years. There were 839 premature and 226 term babies whose weight was appropriate for gestational age, and 74 premature and 327 term babies who were small for dates. 95 (6.5%) had eye disorders at the age of 2. Abnormalities were more common in infants with a Birth weight of less than 1 500 g and in those with a gestional age of less than 28-30 weeks. Boys were more commonly affected than girls. 38% of the children with eye disorders had other problems of which the commonest was mental retardation (75%). There was no relation between perinatal complication and the incidence of eye disorders. The most common abnormality was squint (94%) but other problems were major (blindness, cataracts, retrolental fibroplasia). 37% of the abnormalities had not been diagnosed until found in the survey at the age of 2 years.