Very Preterm Infant Retinal Microanatomy at 36 Weeks' Postmenstrual Age and 2-Year Neurodevelopment.
Thicker retinal nerve fiber layer at 36 weeks predicted higher 2-year motor scores in preterm infants.
Very Preterm Infant Retinal Microanatomy at 36 Weeks' Postmenstrual Age and 2-Year Neurodevelopment.
IMPORTANCE: If noninvasive optical coherence tomography (optical coherence tomography) retinal imaging could predict 2-year neurodevelopment of very preterm (VPT; <32 weeks' gestational age) infants in neonatal intensive care, it might help to guide management.
To evaluate whether retinal microanatomy findings on optical coherence tomography in VPT infants at 36 weeks' postmenstrual age (postmenstrual age) are associated with 2-year neurodevelopmental outcomes.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The prospective, longitudinal cohort study BabySTEPS (Study of Eye Imaging in Preterm Infants), which enrolled infants from August 12, 2016, through November 12, 2019, evaluated VPT infants at risk for retinopathy of prematurity at a single-center neonatal intensive care unit through their outpatient neurodevelopmental visit at age 2 years.
thicker eye nerve layer at 36 weeks predicted better motor skills at age 2
Greater choroidal thickness was associated with higher motor scores (mean score change per 100-µm increase in choroidal thickness, 4.84 [95% CI, 0.45-9.23]; P = .03).
In this cohort study, retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in VPT infants at 36 weeks' postmenstrual age predicted motor and cognitive neurodevelopmental outcomes at age 2 years.
These findings, if confirmed independently, could help guide management of VPT infants through age 2 years.