MYOPIA IN VERY-LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT BABIES WITH AND WITHOUT RETINOPATHY OF PREMATURITY

Objectives and Methods The authors report on the incidence of myopia o f more than 3.0 diopters in a cohort of very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) c hildren, born between 1985 and 1990, at 12, 24 and 36 months of age. R esults In the 133 surviving infants of the 200 babies admitted, the pr evalence of retinopathy of prematurity was 19.5%. One infant was blind . Of the 109 children examined at follow-up, eight (7.2%) developed my opia > 3 diopters. A positive association was found between retinopath y of prematurity and birth weight and between retinopathy of prematuri ty, especially cicatricial retinopathy of prematurity, and myopia, but myopia was detected also in some children without retinopathy of prem aturity. Conclusions Regular ophthalmological examinations for a II VL BW children throughout the first 3 years of life are recommended.