Ocular Refraction at Birth and Its Development During the First Year of Life in a Large Cohort of Babies in a Single Center in Northern Italy

The purpose of this study was to investigate refraction at birth and during the first year of life in a large cohort of babies born in a single center in Northern Italy. We also aimed to analyze refractive errors in relation to the gestational age at birth. An observational ophthalmological assessment was performed within 24 h of birth on 12,427 newborns. Refraction was examined using streak retinoscopy after the administration of tropicamide (1%). Values in the range of between +0.50 ≤ D ≤ +4.00 were defined as physiological refraction at birth. Newborns with refraction values outside of the physiological range were followed up during the first year of life. Comparative analyses were conducted in a subgroup of babies with known gestational ages. The following distribution of refraction at birth was recorded: 88.03% of the babies had physiological refraction, 5.03% had moderate hyperopia, 2.14% had severe hyperopia, 3.4%, had emmetropia, 0.45%, had myopia, 0.94% had astigmatism, and 0.01% had anisometropia. By the end of the first year of life, we observed reductions in hyperopia and astigmatism, and stabilization of myopia. Preterm babies had a four-fold higher risk of congenital myopia and a three-fold higher risk of congenital emmetropia as compared to term babies. Refraction profiles obtained at birth changed during the first year of life, leading to a normalization of the refraction values. Gestational age at birth affected the incidence of refractive errors and amblyopia

A retinoscopic survey of 333 horses and ponies in the UK

Introduction: Ophthalmic examination in the horse is generally limited to crude assessment of vision and screening for ocular lesions. The refractive state of equine eyes and the potential impact on vision and performance requires further investigation. Objective: To assess the refractive state of a large, mixed breed sample of horses and ponies in the United Kingdom (UK). Procedure: The refractive state of both eyes of 333 horses and ponies was determined by streak retinoscopy and the effect of age, height, gender, breed and management regime on the refractive state assessed. Results: The majority of eyes tested were emmetropic (83.63%), with 68.5% of horses having refractive errors of ≤ -0.50D or ≥ +0.50D. Refractive errors of greater than 1.50D (in either direction) were found in 2.7% of the eyes tested. Ametropic eyes included hyperopia (54%) and myopia (46%). Anisometropia was found in 30.3% of horses and ponies. Breed of horse/pony was the only factor that affected refractive state (in the left eye only, p<0.05) with 2 Thoroughbred crosses having a tendency towards myopia and Warmbloods / Shires towards hyperopia. Discussion / Conclusion: The retinoscopic survey found emmetropia to be the predominant refractive state of the equine eye with no evidence of an overall trend towards myopia or hyperopia. However, individual and breed related differences were found. Such factors should be considered in the selection of horses for sport and leisure, and when evaluating their performance potential. More comprehensive visual testing would be valuable in identifying underlying causes of behavioural problems

The Association of Central corneal thickness with Intra-ocular Pressure and Refractive Error in a Nigerian Population

The purpose of this study was to determine the variation of central corneal thickness (CCT) with intraocular pressure (IOP) and spherical equivalent refractive error. A total of thirty-nine (N=39) subjects within 20-75 years with mean age 45.2 ± 15.4 years were used for this study. The central corneal thickness was assessed with the Corneo-Gage plus ultrasonic Pachymeter, the IOP with slit-lamp mounted Goldmann applanation tonometer and refractive status by Protec 2000 autorefractor, phoropter and trial lens set. Results obtained showed that there was no linear correlation between CCT and spherical equivalent errors, although the association between them was significant (p<0.05). The linear correlation between CCT and IOP was not statistically significant. The central corneal thickness was weakly correlated with age; with increasing age the central corneal thickness decreases. Neither the central corneal thickness nor the intraocular pressure was affected by gender

Ocular screening tests of elementary school children

This report presents an analysis of 507 abnormal retinal reflex images taken of Huntsville kindergarten and first grade students. The retinal reflex images were obtained by using an MSFC-developed Generated Retinal Reflex Image System (GRRIS) photorefractor. The system uses a 35 mm camera with a telephoto lens with an electronic flash attachment. Slide images of the eyes were examined for abnormalities. Of a total of 1835 students screened for ocular abnormalities, 507 were found to have abnormal retinal reflexes. The types of ocular abnormalities detected were hyperopia, myopia, astigmatism, esotropia, exotropia, strabismus, and lens obstuctions. The report shows that the use of the photorefractor screening system is an effective low-cost means of screening school children for abnormalities

Genome-wide search for strabismus susceptibility loci.

The purpose of this study was to search for chromosomal susceptibility loci for comitant strabismus. Genomic DNA was isolated from 10mL blood taken from each member of 30 nuclear families in which 2 or more siblings are affected by either esotropia or exotropia. A genome-wide search was performed with amplification by polymerase chain reaction of 400 markers in microsatellite regions with approximately 10 cM resolution. For each locus, non-parametric affected sib-pair analysis and non-parametric linkage analysis for multiple pedigrees (Genehunter software, http://linkage.rockefeller.edu/soft/) were used to calculate multipoint lod scores and non-parametric linkage (NPL) scores, respectively. In sib-pair analysis, lod scores showed basically flat lines with several peaks of 0.25 on all chromosomes. In non-parametric linkage analysis for multiple pedigrees, NPL scores showed one peak as high as 1.34 on chromosomes 1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 15, and 16, while 2 such peaks were found on chromosomes 3, 9, 11, 12, 18, and 20. Non-parametric linkage analysis for multiple pedigrees of 30 families with comitant strabismus suggested a number of chromosomal susceptibility loci. Our ongoing study involving a larger number of families will refine the accuracy of statistical analysis to pinpoint susceptibility loci for comitant strabismus.&#60;/P&#62;</p

Repeatability of the subjective refraction

Actualment, l’error refractiu és considerat un problema de salut a nivell mundial. Un examen refractiu precís és vital per obtenir la millor agudesa visual possible i portar a terme correctament altres exàmens visuals. Principalment, hi han tres tipus de error refractiu; miopia, hipermetropia i astigmatisme. D’altra banda, trobem la presbícia la qual consisteix en una disminució fisiològica de la capacitat d’acomodació. La mostra d’aquest estudi consisteix en 10 pacients els quals es troben en un rang d’edat entre els 18 i els 30 anys. Només pacients sense patologies oculars han sigut examinats a l’estudi. Altrament, l’examen refractiu consisteix en un examen subjectiu partint d’un autorefractómetre binocular (WAM-5500). L’examen subjectiu s’inicia monocularment i després binocularment amb els equilibris biocular i binocular. En relació a l’anàlisi estadístic, abans d’utilitzar els test de SSPS statistics versió 22.00, hem transformat el valor d’esfera i astigmatisme a l’espai ortonormal per comparar els resultats correctament. En tots els casos un p-valor de 0.05 ha sigut considerat estadísticament significant i, s’ha considerat un 95% d’interval de confiança. L’anàlisi estadístic d’aquest estudi conclou, amb un p-valor>0.05 en el test de Wilcoxon Signed-rank, que hi ha concordança entre les dues mesures. En contraposició, les dades han resultat seguir una distribució no normal. L’objectiu i la importància d’aquest estudi és conèixer la repetibilitat d’aquest mètode de mesura de la refracció

An Apparent Order of Sensory Ability Changes in Human Beings \ud

Examination of records and personal documents of 1309 human beings isolated an apparent order of sensory ability changes, for 154 members of the sample both records and personal documents were available. The five changes in the apparent order are (a) an improvement in auditory perception that always includes an increase in complexity of speech, (b) an improvement in ability to taste or to smell or both and comparative myopia in which the developing human being becomes more near-sighted than he or she has been, (c) an increase in ability to discern and separate aural or visual or aural and visual stimuli simultaneously received, (d) comparative hyperopia, and (e) a marked increase in ability in one or more up to all five of the sensory abilities considered in the research: audition, vision, gustation, olfaction, and touch. Truncation of movement through the order is a salient feature, and the fourth change, comparative hyperopia, may be skipped. If the apparent order is significant and supportable, it may lead to new, productive research in many affected disciplines

Eye shape and retinal shape, and their relation to peripheral refraction

Purpose: We provide an account of the relationships between eye shape, retinal shape and peripheral refraction. Recent findings: We discuss how eye and retinal shapes may be described as conicoids, and we describe an axis and section reference system for determining shapes. Explanations are given of how patterns of retinal expansion during the development of myopia may contribute to changing patterns of peripheral refraction, and how pre-existing retinal shape might contribute to the development of myopia. Direct and indirect techniques for determining eye and retinal shape are described, and results are discussed. There is reasonable consistency in the literature of eye length increasing at a greater rate than height and width as the degree of myopia increases, so that eyes may be described as changing from oblate/spherical shapes to prolate shapes. However, one study indicates that the retina itself, while showing the same trend, remains oblate in shape for most eyes (discounting high myopia). Eye shape and retinal shape are not the same and merely describing an eye shape as being prolate or oblate is insufficient without some understanding of the parameters contributing to this; in myopia a prolate eye shape is likely to involve both a steepening retina near the posterior pole combined with a flattening (or a reduction in steepening compared with an emmetrope) away from the pole

Monovision LASIK in emmetropic presbyopic patients.

BackgroundTo evaluate the efficacy and patient satisfaction of laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) monovision correction in presbyopic emmetropic patients.MethodsA retrospective review of 294 patients who underwent LASIK for monovision was conducted. All patients had preoperative uncorrected distance visual acuity in each eye of 20/25 or better in both eyes and underwent primary LASIK treatment in one eye with a near target; 82 patients underwent surgery in the distant eye for hypermetropia. Patients completed a patient-reported-outcome questionnaire at their one-month postoperative visit. Analysis was performed on a per patient basis with a logistic regression model.ResultsPatients achieved a postoperative mean spherical equivalent of -0.05 diopters (D) in the distant eye and -1.92 D in the near eye. Prior to surgery, 64.7% (n=178) of patients reported they were satisfied or very satisfied with their vision; postoperatively, this increased to 85.4% (n=251). The greatest predictor of dissatisfaction after surgery was severe patient-reported visual phenomena (glare, halos, starbursts, ghosting) (odds ratio 1.18, P=0.001).ConclusionsLASIK monovision for presbyopic patients with low refractive error and good preoperative uncorrected distance visual acuity is both safe and effective with high patient satisfaction. Patients who were dissatisfied in the postoperative period tended to be those with postoperative visual symptoms