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Following a MedPage Today story, HealthDay reported that increased survival of extremely pre-term infants has led to a greater number of babies with vision problems caused by abnormal development of blood vessels in the retina, according to a study published in the Oct. issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology.

Swedish researchers examined data on 506 extremely pre-term infants (born before 27 weeks of gestation) who survived until their first eye examination and found that 368 (72.7 percent) had retinopathy of prematurity -- 37.9 percent with mild cases and 34.8 percent with severe cases. Notably, gestational age was a more significant risk factor for retinopathy of prematurity than birth weight.

Posted in: Archives of Ophthalmology, Blood vessel, Retina