Abstract
Children who were horn preterm with very low birth weight more often develop flattened heads and later myopia than children born at term. The dolichocephaly of many VLBW infants is often associated with a high arched palate and protruded eyeballs. Until now, the link has not been established between myopia and low birth weight.
Hypothesis: This molding of head shape 1) is caused by bone mineral deficiency together with gravity and 2) deforms the eyeball into an ellipsoid resulting in a too long optical axis, i. e. myopia.
Method: We did head shape measurements and refractiometry in two groups of children born with VLBW. Group I: 14 children who were born before 1982 and had not received calcium/phosphorus supplements during the neonatal period (birth weight median 1.300 g, range 940 - 1.490 g; age at refractiometry, median 11 years, range 10 - 12 years). Group II: 23 children who were born between 1983 and 1986 and who had received calcium/phosphorus supplements during the neonatal period in order to attain the intrauterine bone mineralization rate (birth weight 1.120 g, 650 - 1.500 g, age at retracdometry 6 y, 4 - 8 y).
Results: Myopia was found at a significant lower rate (2 of 23 children, 8.7 %) in group II than in group I (5 of 14 children, 35.7 %) (p = 0.028, one tailed exact Fisher-test). In group I, the ratio fronto occipital/biorbital diameter was smaller (median 1.89) in the myopic than in the emmetropic children (1.65).
Conclusion: Calcium and phosphorus supplementation in VLBW infants is associated with a reduced rate of myopia in later childhood. This finding is consistent with our hypothesis and indicates that myopia associated with prematurity can be significantly reduced by calcium/phosphorus supplementation during the neonatal period.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pohlandt, F., Terpeluk, C. OSTEOPENIA: THE LINK BETWEEN PREMATURITY AND MYOPIA. Pediatr Res 32, 629 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199211000-00146
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-199211000-00146