Reduced occipital regional volumes at term predict impaired visual function in early childhood in very low birth weight infants.

Purpose: Premature infants are at increased risk of impaired visual performance related to both cortical and subcortical pathways for oculomotor control. The hypothesis for the current study was that preterm infants with impaired saccades, smooth pursuit, and binocular eye alignment at age 2 years would have smaller occipital brain volumes at term equivalent, as measured by volumetric magnetic resonance (MR) techniques, than would preterm infants without such abnormalities.

Methods: Study participants consisted of 68 infants from a representative regional cohort of 100 preterm infants born between 23 and 33 weeks' gestation.

New Zealand experience of I125 brachytherapy for choroidal melanoma.

Purpose: To examine patient survival, visual function and complications in all patients with choroidal melanoma treated with I125 brachytherapy between 1995 and 2003 at the authors' institution. To compare the results from their institution with those from international series.

Methods: Data were collected on 92 consecutive patients.

Improved clinical management of retinoblastoma through gene testing.

Aims: To investigate the relative benefits of retinoblastoma gene testing over conventional ophthalmological screening methods in a New Zealand setting, and to determine the importance of tumour material in resolving germline status.

Methods: Three cases of gene testing are described to illustrate the clinical advantages over conventional ophthalmological screening. To determine the role of tumour material in resolving germline status, 24 New Zealand families were tested, of which tumour material was available for eight.