title: What colour are newborns' eyes? Prevalence of iris colour in the Newborn Eye Screening Test (NEST) study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to assess the birth prevalence of iris colour among newborns in a prospective, healthy, full-term newborn cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Newborn Eye Screening Test (NEST) study is a prospective cohort study conducted at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University School of Medicine. A paediatric vitreoretinal specialist (DMM) reviewed images sent to the Byers Eye Institute telemedicine reading centre and recorded eye colour for every infant screened. Variables were graphed to assess for normality, and frequencies per subject were reported for eye colour, sex, ethnicity and race.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 192 subjects screened in the first year of the NEST study with external images of appropriate quality for visualization of the irides, the birth prevalence of iris colour was 63.0% brown, 20.8% blue, 5.7% green/hazel, 9.9% indeterminate and 0.5% partial heterochromia. The study population was derived from a quaternary care children's hospital. We report the birth prevalence of iris colour among full-term newborns in a diverse prospective cohort.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study demonstrates a broad range of iris colour prevalence at birth with a predominance of brown iris coloration. Future studies with the NEST cohort will assess the change in iris colour over time and whether the frequencies of eye colour change as the child ages.
authors.affiliation: Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA.
authors.forename: Cassie A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Ludwig
authors.affiliation: Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA.
authors.forename: Natalia F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Callaway
authors.affiliation: Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Fredrick
authors.affiliation: Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA.
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Blumenkranz
authors.affiliation: Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA.
authors.forename: Darius M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Moshfeghi
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005006:Ethnicity; D005127:Eye Color / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D015997:Neonatal Screening; D015588:Observer Variation; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: eye colour; newborns; paediatric ophthalmology; prevalence; universal newborn screening