Prematurity and low birth weight linked to increased cupping

An investigation published in the Journal of Paediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus shows that prematurity and birth weight are associated with the progression rate of cup-to-disc ratio (C:D).

Dr Hee-Jung Park et al., Zanvyl Krieger Children’s Eye Center, Wilmer Eye Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, studied optic cup size by serial ophthalmoscopy over 5 years in 184 eyes of 92 children.

All patients had not been through intraocular surgery and did not exhibit any optic nerve diseases. To compare C:D progression between preterm and term children and between low and normal birth weight children linear regression was used. A cross-sectional analysis of C:D was conducted for each year of age from 0 to 10 years.

The findings showed that birth weight and prematurity are strongly associated with optic cup progression in children. The study suggests that the C:D ratio should not be seen as a sign of paediatric glaucoma.