Foredragsholder / Presenter

Navn / Name:                       Dordi Austeng

Institution:                            Uppsala Universitet

Afdeling / Department:         Neurovetenskap

E-mail:                                 dordi.austeng @ ogon.uu.se

Medforfattere / Co-authors:

Navn / Name:                       Gerd Holmström

Institution:                            Uppsala Universitet

Afdeling / Department:         Neurovetenskap

Navn / Name:                       Kerstin Rosander

Institution:                            Uppsala Universitet

Afdeling / Department:         Psykologi

Navn / Name:                       Katarina Strand Brodd

Institution:                            Uppsala Universitet

Afdeling / Department:         Kvinnors och barns hälsa

Navn / Name:                       Uwe Ewald

Institution:                            Uppsala Universitet

Afdeling / Department:         Kvinnors och barns hälsa

Navn / Name:                       Bo Strömberg

Institution:                            Uppsala Universitet

Afdeling / Department:         Kvinnors och barns hälsa

Navn / Name:                       Claes von Hofsten

Institution:                            Uppsala Universitet

Afdeling / Department:         Psykologi

Visual perception impairment in infants born very preterm

Children born very preterm have an increased risk of developing neuromotor and perceptual disabilities. The aim of this project was to study the development of visual perception up to school age and to try to find predictive methods for early detection of deficiencies.

A prospective study of very preterm infants (<32 weeks of gestational age) born in Uppsala County with a planned sample size of 100, was initiated 2004. The infants were screened for ROP, cranial ultrasound was performed and the neuromotor development assessed. In the present study visual motion perception was registered at 2 and 4 months corrected age, using electrooculography ( EOG) and an optoelectronic system. A control group of infants born at term was also examined. The infants tracked a small moving object (a happy face) and the head movements and eye movements, smooth pursuit and saccades, were registered. The smooth pursuit gain was defined as the calibrated eye movement after the elimination of saccades.

The results of the eye movement registrations of the first 65 infants in our prospective study are presented. The mean value of the smooth pursuit gain in the very preterm infants was significantly lower than in the control group. A significant improvement of the gain between measurements at 2 and 4 months was seen in both groups.

Our preliminary findings indicate that a deficient smooth pursuit gain is seen at 2 and 4 months corrected age in infants born very preterm compared to children born at term. The delayed development of smooth eye movements in the prematurely born infants might be a help for early detection of impaired visual perception.