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Low birth weight increases risk for infantile cataract

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BETHESDA, Md. — Infants born weighing less than 2,500 g have a three- to four-fold increased risk of developing infantile cataract, according to a large cohort study.

Researchers at the National Eye Institute used data from the Collaborative Perinatal Project to estimate the prevalence of four categories of infantile cataract. The project studied 55,908 pregnancies from 1959 to 1965.

Infantile cataract occurred in 13.6 per 10,000 infants. Isolated infantile cataract occurred 3.8 times more often in infants born at weights at or below 2,500 g than in those born at or above 2,500 g (P < .001). Similar results were observed for bilateral isolated cataract.

The study is published in the November issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.