Kivonat:
PURPOSE: Macular anatomic abnormalities were examined by optical coherence
tomography (OCT) imaging in premature children and compared with those of
full-term children. METHODS: In a prospective case-control study, premature
patients 7 to 14 years of age were divided into three groups (group I,
laser-treated retinopathy of prematurity [ROP]; group II, spontaneously regressed
ROP; group III, no ROP), and age-matched children (group IV). All the eligible 74
eyes had normal-appearing posterior pole, myopia < or =3 D, and best corrected
visual acuity 1.0. When both eyes of a subject were eligible for the study, one
eye was randomly selected (10 eyes of 10 children in each group). Retinal
thicknesses of the macula measured by OCT3 were compared. The correlation between
central foveal thickness and prematurity (gestational age at birth < or = 30
weeks; birth weight < or = 1250 g) or ROP was determined. RESULTS: The mean
foveal and central retinal thicknesses decreased significantly in group I
(laser-treated ROP) and group IV (term birth). Significant differences in central
retinal thickness were found between the premature groups and full-term children
(Mann-Whitney U test). The cutoff point of central retinal thickness, determined
by receiver operating characteristic curve was 209 microm. The general estimating
equation model statistics found a significant effect of ROP severity (P = 0.003),
P value for the category of prematurity was 0.063. CONCLUSIONS: The central
retinal thickness was significantly higher in the preterm groups than in the
full-term group. This subtle macular modification may be related mainly to ROP.
Prematurity had only a marginally significant role.
