title: Ocular findings in prematurely born children at 5 years of age.
abstract: Fifty-eight prematurely born children (gestational age < or = 32 weeks) were studied at the age of 5 years. The ophthalmological examination was part of an extensive neurodevelopmental evaluation. The eye study revealed significant hyperopia (> or = + 2.0) in 22.4%, myopia (> or = -1.0 D) in 8.6%, astigmatism (> or = 1.0 D) in 12.1%, and anisometropia (> or = 1.0 D) in 12.1%. The myopic refractive error was high in all of the cases: from -6.0 to -14.0 D. Manifest strabismus was found in 24.2% and significant visual impairment or blindness in 6.9%. Optic atrophy and cicatricial retinopathy of prematurity were the main causes for severe visual defects. In the randomly selected full-term children of the same age, significant hyperopia was seen in 14.3%, astigmatism in 5.4% and strabismus in 1.8%. The pattern of the eye findings was different in the preterm children compared with those born at term.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Kuopio.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tuppurainen
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Herrgård
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martikainen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mäntyjärvi
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000175:diagnosis; D013285:Strabismus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014792:Visual Acuity