Refractive and ocular biometric profile of children with a history of laser treatment for retinopathy of prematurity

Abstract

Purpose: Indian children belong to a diverse socioeconomic strata with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) developing in mature, higher birth weight babies as well. The purpose of our study is to analyze the long-term status of refractive errors and its relationship with ocular biometry in children with ROP who were laser treated at a tertiary center in North India. Methods: Cross sectional study. Children (P = 0.03) and higher SE (P = 0.002) at 1 year postnatal age were predictors of larger SE. 79.4% achieved a favorable functional outcome (visual acuity ≥20/40). 5.88% achieved unsatisfactory outcome (<20/200) despite having a favorable structural outcome. Conclusion: There are a substantial number of children who develop myopia and high astigmatism while undergoing laser treatment for ROP. We found myopia in our cohort to be lenticular and greater axial length contributing to the development of high myopia. An initial large refractive error predicts the future development of myopia in these children. Nearly 6% of patients with good structural outcome have unexplained subnormal vision. Our threshold for prescribing glasses in these children should be low.