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The temporal retinal vessel angle and infants born preterm

¹ St Mary’s Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK
² City University, London, UK

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Alistair R Fielder
FRCP, FRCOphth, Department of Optometry and Visual Science, City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, UK; a.fielder{at}city.ac.uk

ABSTRACT
Aim: To determine the temporal retinal vessel angle in babies and its relation to preterm birth.

Methods: Digital images were obtained during routine screening for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). The temporal retinal vessel angle was measured in 164 eyes of 82 babies born "very preterm" (24–27 weeks gestational age (GA)), "preterm" (28–31 weeks GA), and "near term" (32 weeks GA).

Results: Mean temporal vessel angle (TVA) for all three GA groups together is 80.0° (SD 17.0°) for the right eye and 80.5° (16.7°) for the left eye. The range is right eye 59–106°, left eye 69–97°, with 95% data above 67° for the right and 63° for the left eye. For babies born near term, TVA is 82° in each eye. There is a high degree of interocular symmetry between right and left eyes and a statistically insignificant trend for increasing TVA with increasing GA. The presence and stage of ROP affected one parameter of the left eye alone.

Conclusions: These data provide normative data on the TVA in babies and will facilitate, especially if there is interocular asymmetry, determining whether there is macular displacement.

Abbreviations: GA, gestational age; IVA, inferior vessel angle; PMA, postmenstrual age; SVA, superior vessel angle; TVA, temporal vessel angle

Keywords: prematurity; retinal vessels; retinopathy of prematurity

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