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Visual impairment is common in children born before 25 gestational weeks--boys are more vulnerable than girls

Lena Jacobson1, Anna-Lena Hård, Eva Horemuzova

  • 1Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. lena.jacobson@karolinska.se

Acta Paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)
|October 1, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Extremely preterm infants face high risks of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and visual impairment. This study found significantly more boys than girls experienced visual impairment, highlighting the urgent need for preventive measures.

Area of Science:

  • Ophthalmology
  • Neonatology
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Infants born extremely preterm are at high risk for visual impairment.
  • Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and cerebral lesions are primary causes of vision loss in this population.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the frequency of ROP and WHO-defined visual impairment.
  • To analyze these frequencies by gender in infants born at the limit of viability.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective chart review of 114 infants born before 25 weeks gestational age.
  • Screening for ROP conducted at two Swedish hospitals between 1990-2002.
  • Recorded ROP stages, ROP treatment, and visual acuity (VA).

Main Results:

  • 97.4% of infants had ROP, with 74.6% developing proliferative disease.
  • 50.5% achieved normal VA (>=0.8) in at least one eye; girls had significantly better VA than boys (61.5% vs 34.8%).
  • Visual impairment (VA < 0.33) was more common in boys (32.6%) than girls (9.2%).

Conclusions:

  • A significant proportion of infants born at the limit of viability experience visual impairment.
  • Boys are disproportionately affected by visual impairment compared to girls.
  • Urgent development of preventive strategies for visual impairment in extremely preterm infants is necessary.
Abstract

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