Department of Pediatric Ophthalmology, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, P.O. Box 296, Wilmington, DE, 19899, USA.
Department of Pediatric Ophthalmology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2021 Oct;259(10):3137-3148. doi: 10.1007/s00417-021-05191-3. Epub 2021 May 7.
Premature birth, race, and sex are contributing risk factors for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and have long-term impact on children's retinal structure. Few studies investigate impact of race and sex on macular structure in children born preterm. This study compared foveal structure in preterm and full-term children.
Children aged 4-18 years were enrolled into three groups: (1) ROP-risk group (n = 81), born at < 32 weeks gestational age with and without history of ROP; (2) preterm group (n = 46), born at 32-36 weeks gestational age; and (3) control group (n = 68) with full-term birth. Using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography volume-scan images, foveal structure within 1-mm and 3-mm early treatment diabetic retinopathy study circular grid was measured and segmented. Total inner and outer retina thickness of the right eye was compared among the three groups.
The mean total foveal thickness (in microns) was 287 ± 26 for the ROP-risk group, 276 ± 19 for the preterm group, and 263 ± 20 for the control group (F = 26, p < 0.001). Foveal thickness of the ROP-risk group was significantly higher than that of the preterm group and the control group (all p < 0.05). Foveal thickness was thinner in black children than in white children and thinner in females than in males (all p < 0.001). A similar disparity in race and sex was found in the thickness of the inner and outer layers.
The fovea was significantly thicker in the ROP-risk group than the control group. Foveal thickness decreases with increased gestational age. Race and sex are significant factors in foveal structure in children.
早产、种族和性别是导致早产儿视网膜病变（ROP）的危险因素，并对儿童的视网膜结构产生长期影响。很少有研究调查种族和性别对早产儿黄斑结构的影响。本研究比较了早产儿和足月儿的黄斑结构。
4-18 岁的儿童被纳入三个组：（1）ROP 风险组（n=81），胎龄<32 周，有或无 ROP 病史；（2）早产儿组（n=46），胎龄 32-36 周；和（3）对照组（n=68），足月儿。使用频域光学相干断层扫描容积扫描图像，测量和分割 1mm 和 3mm 早期治疗糖尿病视网膜病变研究圆形网格内的黄斑结构。比较三组右眼的总内、外视网膜厚度。
ROP 风险组的平均总黄斑厚度（微米）为 287±26，早产儿组为 276±19，对照组为 263±20（F=26，p<0.001）。ROP 风险组的黄斑厚度明显高于早产儿组和对照组（均 p<0.05）。黑人儿童的黄斑厚度比白人儿童薄，女性比男性薄（均 p<0.001）。在内、外层厚度方面也存在类似的种族和性别差异。
ROP 风险组的黄斑明显比对照组厚。黄斑厚度随胎龄增加而减小。种族和性别是儿童黄斑结构的重要因素。
