Optical coherence tomography of the preterm eye: from retinopathy of prematurity to brain development

Abstract

Preterm infants with retinopathy of prematurity are at increased risk of poor neurodevelopmental outcomes. Because the neurosensory retina is an extension of the central nervous system, anatomic abnormalities in the anterior visual pathway often relate to system and central nervous system health. We describe optical coherence tomography as a powerful imaging modality that has recently been adapted to the infant population and provides noninvasive, high-resolution, cross-sectional imaging of the infant eye at the bedside. Optical coherence tomography has increased understanding of normal eye development and has identified several potential biomarkers of brain abnormalities and poorer neurodevelopment.

Keywords:

• preterm infant
• optical coherence tomography
• neurosensory retina
• biomarkers
• retinopathy
• brain development

Acknowledgments

Dr Toth receives royalties through her university from Alcon and research support from Bioptigen (Research Triangle Park, NC, USA) and Genentech (South San Francisco, CA, USA). She also has unlicensed patents pending in OCT imaging and analysis. No authors have a proprietary interest in the current study.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.