Ultrasonic Measurements of the Eye in the Newborn Infant

Abstract

The right eyes of 28 newborn infants have been examined retinoscopically, and the anterior chamber depth, the lens thickness and the length of the virteous were measured by ultrasound. In 15 of the infants keratometry was performed using the Javal-Schiötz keratometer. The total axial length of the eye was found to be longer the heavier the weight of the baby, whereas the lens thickness showed no correlation to the total axial length or to the weight of the baby. In only 1/3 of the babies was the corneal astigmatism less than 0.5 D. A significant correlation (P less than 0.01) was found between the total axial length of the eye and the length of the corneal radius.

Eye Size in Threshold Retinopathy of Prematurity, Based on a Danish Preterm Infant Series: Early Axial Eye Growth, Pre- and Postnatal Aspects

“…[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] In a Danish study of eye size around term (week 40) we found no significant difference between PT and FT groups, but within the PT group there was a trend of shorter axial length (AL) for those of a very low gestational age (GA) at delivery. 17,18 With the introduction of the retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) classification in 1984, 19 subsequent clinical and biometric studies subdivided PT findings according to the presence and severity of the retinal disorder (Table 1).…”

“…[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] The table first shows eye size at term from various series of mainly population-based newborns. Some had a natural small share of surviving PT infants; others were selected as full terms.…”

Anatomy and Physiology of the Retina

“…Eye growth is most rapid between the eighth and the fourteenth fetal week [174]. In utero, the sagittal length is about 12 mm at 6 months gestation, 14.4 mm at 7 months gestation, and 16.8 mm at 8 months gestation [170,175]. Therefore, the eye reaches approximately half the adult size (24 mm) at six fetal months and two thirds of the adult size by term.…”

Idoneidad del injerto corneal de donante neonato en la queratoplastia penetrante

“…Su espesor (0,57 mm) es algo menor que en el adulto (0,6 mm) aunque Insler (11) encuentra unos valores parecidos no hallando correlación con la mayor curvatura. El radio de curvatura es de 7 mm aproximadamente (9) e incluso inferior (11) lo que provoca un mayor poder dióptrico pareciendo existir una correlación entre el radio y la menor longitud axial que compensaría la hipermetropía esperable en el niño (9). Se ha comprobado un marcado aumento de la curvatura corneal en niños prematuros (de unas 53-54 D), que experimenta un notable aplanamiento durante el período correspondiente a los últimos meses de gestación (12,13).…”