{"doi":"10.1016/j.xops.2023.100359","title":"Longitudinal Choroidal Development in Preterm Infants","abstract":"PurposeTo characterize changes in subfoveal choroidal thickness in preterm infants from 30 to 60 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA).DesignThe prospective, observational Study of Eye Imaging in Preterm infantS (BabySTEPS) enrolled infants eligible for retinopathy of prematurity screening per the American Association of Pediatrics guidelines.SubjectsInfants imaged with investigational, hand-held optical coherence tomography (OCT) at ≥4 distinct imaging sessions between 30 to 60 weeks PMA as part of BabySTEPS.MethodsAverage choroidal thickness across the central subfoveal 1 millimeter in each eye at each time point was measured using custom segmentation software, and errors manually corrected by a trained grader. We prospectively collected birth history data. A segmented mixed model was used to analyze the change in choroidal thickness as a function of PMA, birth weight, and gestation age (GA).Main Outcome MeasuresCharacterization of normative subfoveal choroidal thickness values and choroidal growth rate between 30 to 60 weeks PMA.ResultsWe included 592 imaging sessions of 79 preterm infants (152 eyes). Mean (±standard deviation) GA was 27.5±2.5 weeks. Mean choroidal thickness was 141.4±34.5 μm at 30 weeks, 272.2±83.9 μm at 38 weeks, and 306.2±77.4 μm between 56 and 60 weeks. Between 30 and 60 weeks PMA, choroidal growth followed a biphasic model, with a linear growth rate of 14.8 μm/week (95% confidence interval (CI) 13.6-16.0) from 30 until 38.4 weeks then cessation of growth, with a growth rate of 0.3 μm/week (95% CI -1.1-1.6) from 38.4 to 60 weeks. Extremely low birth weight (<1000 g) and extremely preterm (GA <28 weeks) infants had significantly slower initial growth rates compared to very low and low birth weight and very preterm and preterm infants (ELBW 13.0 vs 21.0 μm/week, p<0.0001; and EPT 13.2 vs 18.0 μm/week, p=0.003).ConclusionsPreterm infant choroidal thickness experiences rapid linear growth from 30 to 38 weeks PMA, at which time growth nearly stops. These foundational measurements and identification of the impact of extremes of low birth weight and prematurity on choroidal development will be essential as researchers begin to understand the role of choroidal development in ocular and retinal health in human infants.","journal":"Ophthalmology Science","year":2023,"id":355695,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":5,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.8774,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2023-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":456920,"name":"Shwetha Mangalesh","orcid":"0000-0001-9621-5767","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":781411,"name":"Yineng Chen","orcid":"0000-0003-4808-4525","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":333374,"name":"Liangbo L. 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