Baby/with children

Another high-risk group for pathological changes in the blood vessels of the retina are premature babies, especially if they were ventilated with oxygen after birth. Since the baby’s retina and its vessels only fully develop in the last third of the pregnancy, it is easy for premature babies to have a development that was not fully completed at the time of birth. Of course, this does not necessarily mean that the child must have damage to the eye and the retina as a result.

But it does happen that a slight developmental disorder of the formation of blood vessels in the retina occurs. In this case, the growth of the vessels and the new formation can, so to speak, overshoot as a reaction to the early birth and the associated contact with oxygen and too many veins form in the back of the eye. This can, in serious and untreated cases, lead to the detachment of the child’s retina and rapid loss of vision (all the more tragic as the problem usually affects both eyes of the baby). However, if the fundus of the eye is well and regularly assessed by ophthalmoscopy, the growth of the blood vessels can be well assessed and controlled and therapeutic intervention can be taken if problems arise.

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