Visual Acuity Correlates with Severity of Retinopathy of Prematurity in Untreated Infants Weighing 750 g or Less at Birth

Visual acuity was assessed in 72 patients who weighed 750 g or less at birth, had intact visual pathways as confirmed with computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, and had at least one eye evaluated for cicatricial sequelae after active, untreated retinopathy of prematurity without macular detachment (stage 4a or better). Visual acuities were obtained for 137 untreated, sighted eyes. Severity parameters for retinopathy of prematurity (stage of retinopathy of prematurity, refraction [in spherical equivalents], macular ectopia [in disc diameters], and vessel traction [in 30° sectors]) was were significant predictors of visual acuity (P<.0001) based on results of linear regression and stepwise regression analyses; however, parameters of retinal immaturity (birth weight, gestational age, and zone of retinopathy of prematurity) were not significant predictors of visual acuity. Visual acuity of the study eyes was good (median, 20/30; geometric mean, 20/33.58), with no statistical differences between eyes evaluated on last examination with linear Allen figures and those evaluated with linear Snellen test types.