Development of grating acuity in infants with Retinopathy of Prematurity

Purpose: To evaluate the visual development in infants with stage 1 similar to 3 ROP and compare their visual results with healthy preterm infants. Patients and Methods: One hundred forty-four premature infants were recruit ed and were divided into 3 groups according to the stage of ROP, Randomly s elected preterm subjects with no ROP Here taken as controls. Ophthalmic exa minations started 4 to 7 weeks after birth and were repeated as needed unti l the retina was fully vascularized or until any ROP that developed had res olved, Grating acuity was measured by acuity cards between 35-45 weeks of c orrected age and by PL method at 12, 18 and 24 months of age. Results: Infants with stage 3 ROP had slightly low er visual acuity scores compared to other infants at most of the testing points throughout the 35-4 5 week period, which did not show statistical significance at any week. Inf ants with stage 2 and 3 ROP had similar visual acuity, values but slightly loner acuity scores than infants with stage 1 or no ROP at the 12 month fol low-up. The differences were not statistically significant. Stage 3 ROP inf ants had significantly lower acuity scores compared to infants with stage 1 -2 or no ROP at the 18 and 24 month follow-up visits (p<0.0001). Conclusion: We stress periodic monitoring of early visual acuity in infants with ROP because of the possibility of impaired visual development.