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Two-year follow-up exams not worthwhile in premature babies
Two-year follow-up examinations appear unnecessary for identifying ophthalmic abnormalities in children born prematurely, a Swedish study found.
Anna-Lena Hård, MD, PhD, of the Queen Silvia Children's Hospital in Gothenburg, and colleague Ann Hellström, MD, studied 142 children born before 32 weeks' gestation who underwent follow-up examinations at a median age of 2.33 years.
For all children previously screened for retinopathy of prematurity, researchers found undiagnosed conditions in only 4.2%, which included two cases of strabismus and four cases of high refractive error.
Based on the results, the authors concluded that 2-year exams may not be needed because most ophthalmic abnormalities are identified early as premature children at high risk are regularly followed in eye clinics.
The study is published in the October issue of Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica.