Objective: Assessment of the anatomo-functional state of the central retina in children with intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in the long-term period.

Methods: We examined 51 patients (102 eyes) born 25-34 weeks' of gestation (birth weight 700-2290 g), aged 8.83±3.5 years, and 18 children (36 eyes) born prematurely aged 10.8±3.2 years. The children underwent standard ophthalmologic examination, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and visual evoked potentials (VEP).

Results: Retinal thickness (RT) and retinal volume (RV) in the fovea of premature infants with PH and/or IVH are significantly higher than in healthy full-term infants, which correlates with lower visual acuity (p<0.05). RT and RV in the fovea has an inverse proportional relationship with gestational age (GA), (p<0.05). According to the results of VEP, moderate organic changes in the conduction tract of the visual analyzer are noted in 45% of premature infants (p<0.05).

Conclusions: The process of macula formation is affected by many perinatal and postnatal factors, namely: GA, birth weight, ROP, hypoxic-ischemic CNS diseases, and refractive disorders.