What is normal for premature babies' eyes?

The growth and development of premature babies is an issue that people are very concerned about, because the probability of problems with premature babies is getting higher and higher, bringing serious disasters to many families. Premature babies will have problems in all aspects of their bodies, which will greatly affect their growth and development. The eyes of premature babies are the part most prone to problems. Let’s take a look at what is considered normal for the eyes of premature babies?

Retinopathy of prematurity is a serious disease that can cause blindness in infants and young children. It often occurs in newborns with a gestational age of less than 37 weeks or a birth weight of less than 2500 grams. The incidence of retinopathy of prematurity in premature infants is 15% to 30%, and one-third of blind children are caused by this disease. It is closely related to the baby's gestational age and birth weight. 40% of babies born before 31 weeks of gestation are at risk of developing retinopathy of prematurity. The more immature the baby is, the higher the incidence rate and the more serious the condition. As the treatment demand and survival rate of premature and low-birth-weight infants in my country continue to increase, the incidence and severity of retinopathy of prematurity, a disease that was previously rarely seen, are gradually increasing. Prevention and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity has become an important issue in improving the quality of life of premature and low birth weight infants.

1. Transparency. People often compare eyes to windows of the soul. As windows, they should first be transparent and bright. Therefore, parents can first observe the black pupils of the baby's eyes, that is, whether the cornea is transparent, whether there are white spots on the cornea, and the vascular texture. Certain congenital corneal abnormalities can cause decreased corneal transparency and the formation of new blood vessels in the cornea, seriously affecting vision. Check whether there is any local bulge at the junction of the cornea and sclera, that is, the junction of the black pupil and the white sclera. Corneal teratomas and dermoid cysts are often prone to occur here. Due to severe astigmatism, vision will also be affected.

2. Size. Next, you should observe whether the eyeball is particularly large or small. The diameter of the cornea of ​​a normal-sized eyeball is about 11 mm. If it is particularly large and the cornea is cloudy and foggy, it may be congenital glaucoma, commonly known as "bull's eye." If the eyeball is particularly small, it may be congenital microphthalmia, eye atrophy, etc. Some babies may find that their eyes are different sizes or both eyes are small, and they feel like they can't open their eyes. They often look up at people. This is ptosis.

3. Is there a white reflection in the center of the pupil? The lens of congenital cataracts will appear white opacity to varying degrees. Retinoblastoma can also cause white changes in the pupil area, and certain retinal diseases such as Coat's disease can also cause white reflections.