The importance of fundus examination in premature infants

Fundus examination of premature infants is a particularly important step, so families must pay attention to the health of premature infants, because premature infants are particularly prone to eye damage. Therefore, we must have a full understanding of fundus examination of premature infants. So many families want to know the importance of fundus examination of premature infants. In order for you to understand as soon as possible, please take a look at the answer below.

Preventing blindness: The sooner the baby is born, the more important it is to check the fundus

The most important cause of retinopathy of prematurity is premature birth.

"The lighter the weight and the younger the gestational age, the greater the chance of developing retinopathy of prematurity," said Chief Physician Xiang Daoman.

Therefore, the state stipulates that premature babies weighing less than 2000 grams and with a gestational age of less than 36 weeks must undergo a check for retinopathy of prematurity. But in fact, to be on the safe side, it is recommended that no matter how much the baby weighs at birth, even if he is fatter than a full-term baby and grows strong, as long as he is a premature baby, parents are advised to take him to the hospital for an eye fundus examination as soon as possible.

In clinical practice, we often see parents taking their 5- to 6-month-old children for retinal screening. However, they do not realize that if their children unfortunately develop this lesion, it will be too late to see a doctor by then.

Screening for retinopathy of prematurity must be carried out as early as possible.

The so-called "early" has certain principles. If the baby's gestational age at birth is greater than 32 weeks, he can undergo the first screening immediately after birth; if the baby's gestational age at birth is less than 32 weeks, these babies are usually treated in an incubator in the neonatal department. In this case, the first screening should be started after his corrected gestational age (corrected gestational age = gestational age + weeks after birth) reaches 32 weeks.

Moreover, a normal first screening does not mean that the baby's retina is fine, because retinopathy of prematurity often appears 3 to 6 weeks after birth. Only by discovering it during this active period and taking necessary measures can the child's eyesight be saved.

Therefore, it is very important to re-examine the retina of premature infants. As for the time of re-examination, it generally depends on the results of the first examination.

The importance of fundus examination in premature infants has been introduced in detail above for many families. Therefore, for families with premature infants, for the sake of their children's eye health, they must conduct fundus examination on premature infants as soon as possible. After the examination, they can understand the health of their children's eyes. If any problems occur, they should be treated as soon as possible to ensure the health of premature infants' eyes.