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Updated: Aug 11, 2026
Preterm EEG: A Multimodal Neurophysiological Protocol
Published on: February 18, 2012
Visual development in preterm and full-term infants: a prospective masked study
S Weinacht1, C Kind, J S Mönting
1Department of Strabismus and Neuro-Ophthalmology, Kantonsspital Street Gallen, Switzerland.
Insights
Preterm infants show delayed visual development compared to full-term infants when measured by postnatal age. However, visual acuity and binocular vision develop similarly when assessed by postmenstrual age.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Ophthalmology
- Neonatology
Background:
- Infant visual development is crucial for cognitive and motor skills.
- Preterm infants may experience altered visual maturation due to their early birth.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare visual acuity and binocular vision development in preterm versus full-term infants.
- To investigate the impact of gestational age on early visual milestones.
Main Methods:
- Prospective study of healthy full-term and low-risk preterm infants.
- Biweekly assessments of ocular alignment, convergence, fusion, grating acuity, and optokinetic nystagmus (OKN).
- Testers were masked to infant's gestational age.
Main Results:
- Full-term infants achieved visual milestones earlier than preterm infants at the same postnatal age.
- No significant differences in visual development were observed when comparing preterm and full-term infants at the same postmenstrual age.
- Preterm infants' additional visual experience did not alter early visual development when measured from conception.
Conclusions:
- Visual development, including acuity and binocular vision, is comparable between preterm and full-term infants when corrected for postmenstrual age.
- Postmenstrual age is a more accurate measure for comparing visual development than postnatal age in the early months of life.
Purpose:
To compare development of visual acuity and binocular vision in preterm and full-term infants in a prospective study that used testers masked to subject's gestational age.
Methods:
Seventy-nine healthy full-term infants, mean gestational age 40 weeks, and 18 low-risk preterm infants, mean gestational age 33 weeks, were examined biweekly between the 44th and 54th weeks of postmenstrual age. Ocular alignment, convergence, fusion, grating acuity, and onset of optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) were assessed at each examination.
Results:
The mean postnatal ages of onset of ocular alignment, convergence, fusion, grating acuity to 1.6 cycles per degree, and OKN from temporal to nasal and nasal to temporal were, respectively, 5, 7, 7, 11, 6, and 9 weeks for the full-term and 12, 13, 14, 18, 13, and 16 weeks for the preterm infants. The mean postmenstrual ages of onset for the corresponding parameters were 46, 48, 48, 51, 46, and 50 weeks for full-term and 46, 47, 48, 52, 47, and 49 weeks for preterm infants. The onset of all parameters was earlier in full-term infants than in preterm infants of the same postnatal age (P < or = 0.0001). However, no differences were found when the parameters were compared at postmenstrual ages.
Conclusions:
Additional visual experience of preterm infants does not influence development of visual acuity or binocular vision during the first months of life as measured from the time of conception.
