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Clinical science
Original article
Optic disc measurements in full term infants
  1. Yogavijayan Kandasamy1,
  2. Roger Smith2,
  3. Ian M R Wright2,
  4. Leo Hartley1
  1. 1Department of Neonatology, The Townsville Hospital, Queensland, Australia
  2. 2Mother and Babies' Research Unit/University of Newcastle, John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Y Kandasamy, Department of Neonatology, The Townsville Hospital, 100 Angus Smith Drive, Douglas, Queensland 4814, Australia; yoga_kandasamy{at}health.qld.gov.au

Abstract

Background The objectives of this study were to measure optic disc size in full term infants and to determine whether this value is influenced by sex or birth weight.

Methods Retinal images from a cohort of full term infants admitted to a tertiary perinatal centre were obtained using a retinal camera. Optic disc size was measured by carefully delineating the outline with a cursor using image analysis software. MEDLINE was then systematically searched to compare the data with other published articles.

Results 35 images of left and right eyes from 35 infants were assessed. An image from one eye per patient was then chosen for analysis. The following results were found: mean birth weight 3050±706 g; mean gestation 38.9±1.4 weeks. Mean optic disc area was 1.26±0.23 mm2; mean vertical diameter was 1.37±0.15 mm; and mean horizontal diameter was 1.14±0.12 mm. The vertical diameter of the optic disc was significantly longer than the horizontal diameter (p<0.0001).

Conclusion Birth weight and sex did not influence the size of the optic disc in term infants. There were no differences in optic disc measurements between male and female infants and between low birth weight and normal birth weight infants.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bjophthalmol-2011-300950

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    Footnotes

    • Funding This work was supported by the Townsville Hospital Private Practice and Research Grant (grant No RG02512) and ANZ Trustees Children's Medical Grant in Queensland (grant number CT 11945).

    • Competing interests None.

    • Ethics approval The study was approved by the Townsville Health District Human Research Ethics Committee.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data sharing statement The authors are willing to share the data associated with this study. Data are available on request from the corresponding author: yoga_kandasamy{at}health.qld.gov.au.