Original ArticleCortical Visual Function in Preterm Infants in the First Year
Section snippets
Methods
Infants were recruited from the neonatal intensive care unit at Gemelli Hospital in Rome, Italy, from June 2004 to June 2006. Informed parental consent for the study was obtained for all infants.
Infants were consecutively enrolled when they were born between 25.0 and 30.9 (<31) weeks gestational age (GA) as determined from the results of first trimester ultrasound scans or when their cranial ultrasound scanning results were normal or only showed transient flares or germinal layer hemorrhages
Results
Eighty-two infants fulfilled the inclusion criteria; 75 infants with a mean GA of 28.8 ± 1.2 weeks (range, 25-30 weeks), with a mean birth weight of 1174 ± 246 g (range, 490-1700 g) were assessed at 3 (median, 3.1 ± 0.2), 5 (median, 5.2 ± 0.3), and 12 (median, 12.2 ± 0.6) months corrected age. The infants had a normal results on a neurodevelopmental assessment at 12 months. The remaining 7 infants missed 1 of the 3 assessments and were not be included in the study. The infants were subdivided
Discussion
In our preterm cohort, nearly all the aspects of vision that we assessed at 3, 5, and 12 months corrected age were within the normal reference range for term-born infants assessed at the same post-term age. More specifically, the ability to fix and follow, acuity, visual fields, and attention at distance had consistently normal results (>85%), suggesting that the maturation of these aspects of vision was not affected by preterm birth. These results are in agreement with earlier studies also
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2019, Early Human DevelopmentCitation Excerpt :This indicates that neither GA nor BW influences visual detection rates and reaction times at this age. Our results confirm previous findings that GA was not related to abnormal fixation shift performance [17] or to early attentional functions in preterms [20]. The risk factors that were significantly related to visuospatial attention orienting and processing performance (i.e., IRDS, IVH, PHVI, PHVD) all indicate severe illness in the neonatal period, confined to disruptions in oxygen supply and cerebral blood flow.
Visuo-manual coordination in preterm infants without neurological impairments
2016, Research in Developmental DisabilitiesCitation Excerpt :In addition to obvious CVI, some authors have also hypothesized that the development of visual function may be delayed in preterm children. For instance, in the first year of life, visual attention as assessed through fixation shifts (measured by tracking the direction and latency of saccadic eye movements in response to a peripheral target—black and white stripes) is less mature in preterm than in full-term infants (Ricci et al., 2010). In the same vein, preterm infants have a lesser proportion of smooth pursuit eye movements as tested by their tracking of a small happy face (Grönqvist, Brodd, & Rosander, 2011).
Supported by the Mariani Foundation. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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Both authors contributed equally.