The aim of present study was to evaluate long-term ophthalmological outcomes and anthropometric measurements of preterm children at school entering age (5, 6, 7 years) and to compare the data with full-term healthy children.
Material and methods. We examined 103 children, who were born in 2006-2008: 81 were born prematurely and had a history of ROP, 22 were preterm without ROP. Control group consisted of 40 full-term children born at the same time. All children underwent detail ocular examination and anthropometric parameters were measured.
Results. The majority of preterm children’s anthropometric parameters (except skin folds) were significantly lower than in the control group. It was found that at school entering age adipose tissue of prematurely born children tends to centraltze on the trunk and they undergo earlier adiposity rebound. Children with ROP, who had been treated, had reduced visual acuity, steeper corneal curvature, shallow anterior chamber depth, thick lens and the shortest axial length. ROP treated and not treated children had significantly thicker central maculae. The prevalence of refractive errors, strabismus and ambliopia were biggest in ROP treated group.
Conclusions. At seven years of age prematurely born children catch up their height, but not the weight. In school entering age period, prematurely born children differ in their body size and composition - they have the similar amount of body fat as full-term children, but lesser active mass. The preval ence of ophthalmological system’s changes and differences in optical components were seen in ROP treated children group and very low birth weight group.
