Subclinical macular findings in infants screened for retinopathy of prematurity with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate subclinical macular findings in premature patients at risk of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) with the use of handheld spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

DESIGN

Prospective, observational case series.

PARTICIPANTS

Forty-nine prematurely born neonates.

METHODS

Forty-nine infants were imaged using a handheld SD-OCT. Images were acquired in nonsedated infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Some patients were followed and reimaged over the course of several weeks. A total of 300 total images were acquired and evaluated for cystoid macular edema (CME) and persistence of inner retinal layers.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: In vivo determination of foveal retinal lamination, image analysis, and clinical observation.

RESULTS

A total of 241 (80%) of the images from 46 patients were usable (defined as having scans passing through the fovea with clearly identifiable retinal layers). Persistence of 1 or more inner retinal layers was seen in 43 of the patients with usable images (93%). Of the patients with at least 1 persistent layer, 17, 4, 8, 12, and 1, had a maximum ROP stage of 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4A, respectively. Cystoid macular edema was seen in 25 of the 46 patients (54%) during 1 or more imaging sessions. Cystoid macular edema was present in 9, 1, 5, 9, and 1 patient with maximum ROP stage of 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4A, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data suggest there is persistence of inner retinal layers in premature infants regardless of maximal ROP stage. Subclinical CME is seen in premature infants; however, CME does not appear to be correlated with ROP stage. This suggests that there may be other causes for the CME seen in this patient population. Hand-held SD-OCT imaging is a viable technique for evaluating subclinical macular findings in premature infants, although larger datasets are needed from multiple centers to further evaluate the generalizability of these findings.

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE(S): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.