Increase in retinal surface area during infancy and childhood.

Retinal surface area was calculated from measurements made on the eyes of 33 patients ranging in age from six-months of gestation to six-postnatal years. Retinal surface area increased dramatically during the last months of gestation and more gradually in the first two postnatal years. Thereafter the rate of increase was small. These data provide a background against which regional shifts in the cell density of the retina and retinal pigmented epithelium can be studied.