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Very pre‐term birth and visual impairment
Author(s) -
Fledelius Hans C,
Greisen Gorm
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.1993.tb04156.x
Subject(s) - retinopathy of prematurity , medicine , gestational age , pediatrics , retinoblastoma , pregnancy , biochemistry , chemistry , genetics , gene , biology
. In a group of infants and children of very preterm delivery (gestational age 30 weeks or less, n = 411, Rigshospitalet Copenhagen 1983–89) 13 got blind due to retinopathy of prematurity (3.2%) while another 13 with sequelae retained useful vision of at least one eye. One child later acquired bilateral retinoblastoma, with a free interval of one year from a protracted course of ROP stage 2–3 eventually to regress. The 411 surviving subjects being recruited from a total of 515 of a similarly low gestational age, the survival rate in the 7‐year period under study was just below 80%. No doubt, the high survival rate in this very pre‐term group is of importance for the risk of developing retinopathy of prematurity, but the role of the ophthalmologist in controlling the infants is also emphasized. Generally, stricter observation schemes are recommended. ‐ Probably, the ROP frequency in the sample of 23.6% is an underestimate.