Ophthalmic artery blood flow in very-low-birth-weight preterm infants.

PURPOSE To evaluate normal blood flow velocity and Doppler indices of the ophthalmic arteries from birth to hospital discharge of inborn infants at birth weights between 500 and 1500 g and gestational age <or=32 weeks. METHODS A longitudinal prospective study with Doppler ultrasound was conducted in both eyes at 24 hours, 7 and 28 days, and hospital discharge for systolic and diastolic velocities, pulsatility, and resistance indices. Retinopathy of prematurity stage 2 and higher, peri-intraventricular hemorrhage grades 3 and 4, and death were excluded. RESULTS The authors studied 46 very-low-birth-weight infants (92 eyes; birth weight, 1215 +/- 202 g; gestational age, 30.4 +/- 1.3 weeks). Both eyes had similar Doppler findings at each study interval. Systolic velocity increased significantly from birth to hospital discharge (P = 0.001; right eye, 17.85 +/- 5.3 cm/s and 23.18 +/- 4.88 cm/s; left eye, 17.78 +/- 5.19 cm/s and 23.51 +/- 5.63 cm/s), as did diastolic velocity (P = 0.02; right eye, 6.17 +/- 1.13 cm/s and 6.76 +/- 1.12 cm/s; left eye, 6.34 +/- 1.26 cm/s and 6.9 +/- 1.53 cm/s). Pulsatility and resistance indices did not change during the entire period. CONCLUSIONS There is a typical pattern of ophthalmic artery systolic and diastolic blood flow velocities, and pulsatility and resistance indices during the neonatal period in very-low-birth-weight infants.