Relationship between visual and neurodevelopmental measures at 2 years with visual acuity and stereopsis at 4.5 years in children born at risk of neonatal hypoglycaemia.

Purpose: Mild to moderate vision loss affects many children and can negatively impact a child's early literacy and academic achievement. Nevertheless, there is no consensus on which factors present in early childhood indicate the need for long-term ophthalmic follow up, particularly in children with a history of perinatal adversity. This study identified the relationship between visual, cognitive, motor and demographic factors at 2 years of age and visual acuity (VA) and stereoacuity at 4.

Visual impairment and its correction among Pacific youth in Aotearoa: findings from the Pacific Islands Families Study.

Aim: Childhood visual impairment has a life-long impact that, with early access to eyecare, is largely avoidable. We aimed to understand visual impairment and its correction among Pacific youth in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Method: The Pacific Islands Families Study is a birth cohort study that tracks an original sample of 1,398 Pacific children born at Middlemore Hospital (Auckland).

Geographic distribution of eye-care practitioners in Aotearoa/New Zealand: implications for future eye health workforce.

Background: The New Zealand Ministry of Health provides funding for the delivery of health care across regions via 20 District Health Boards. Funding includes the subsidisation of therapeutic pharmaceutical agents/drugs. The distribution of optometrists and ophthalmologists across the regions was investigated to understand the accessibility of eye care in New Zealand.

Role of diet and food intake in age-related macular degeneration: a systematic review.

A systematic literature review was conducted to evaluate the role of diet and food intake in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Eighteen high-quality studies were identified. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet had decreased risk of AMD progression.

Vision screening at two years does not reduce the prevalence of reduced vision at four and a half years of age.

Background: There is currently insufficient evidence to recommend vision screening for children < 36 months of age. This study assessed the effect of comprehensive vision screening, as well as the sensitivity of age-appropriate vision tests, at two years of age on habitual visual acuity at 4.5 years of age.

Global motion perception is associated with motor function in 2-year-old children.

The dorsal visual processing stream that includes V1, motion sensitive area V5 and the posterior parietal lobe, supports visually guided motor function. Two recent studies have reported associations between global motion perception, a behavioural measure of processing in V5, and motor function in pre-school and school aged children. This indicates a relationship between visual and motor development and also supports the use of global motion perception to assess overall dorsal stream function in studies of human neurodevelopment.

Association of Neonatal Glycemia With Neurodevelopmental Outcomes at 4.5 Years.

Importance: Hypoglycemia is common during neonatal transition and may cause permanent neurological impairment, but optimal intervention thresholds are unknown.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that neurodevelopment at 4.5 years is related to the severity and frequency of neonatal hypoglycemia.

Effect of simulated refractive error on adult visual acuity for paediatric tests.

Purpose: Although vanishing optotype preferential-looking tasks are commonly used to measure visual acuity (VA), the relative sensitivity of these tests to refractive error is not well understood. To address this issue, we determined the effect of spherical and astigmatic simulated refractive errors on adult VA measures obtained using vanishing optotypes, picture optotypes and Sloan letters.

Methods: VA was determined uniocularly for adults under conditions of spherical (0.

Global motion perception is related to motor function in 4.5-year-old children born at risk of abnormal development.

Global motion perception is often used as an index of dorsal visual stream function in neurodevelopmental studies. However, the relationship between global motion perception and visuomotor control, a primary function of the dorsal stream, is unclear. We measured global motion perception (motion coherence threshold; MCT) and performance on standardized measures of motor function in 606 4.

Neonatal Hypoglycaemia and Visual Development: A Review.

Background: Many newborn babies experience low blood glucose concentrations, a condition referred to as neonatal hypoglycaemia (NH). The effect of NH on visual development in infancy and childhood is of interest because the occipital lobes, which include the primary visual cortex and a number of extrastriate visual areas, may be particularly susceptible to NH-induced injury. In addition, a number of case series have suggested that NH can affect eye and optic nerve development.

Do picture-based charts overestimate visual acuity? Comparison of Kay Pictures, Lea Symbols, HOTV and Keeler logMAR charts with Sloan letters in adults and children.

Purpose: Children may be tested with a variety of visual acuity (VA) charts during their ophthalmic care and differences between charts can complicate the interpretation of VA measurements. This study compared VA measurements across four pediatric charts with Sloan letters and identified chart design features that contributed to inter-chart differences in VA.

Methods: VA was determined for right eyes of 25 adults and 17 children (4-9 years of age) using Crowded Kay Pictures, Crowded linear Lea Symbols, Crowded Keeler logMAR, Crowded HOTV and Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) charts in focused and defocused (+1.

Prenatal exposure to recreational drugs affects global motion perception in preschool children.

Prenatal exposure to recreational drugs impairs motor and cognitive development; however it is currently unknown whether visual brain areas are affected. To address this question, we investigated the effect of prenatal drug exposure on global motion perception, a behavioural measure of processing within the dorsal extrastriate visual cortex that is thought to be particularly vulnerable to abnormal neurodevelopment. Global motion perception was measured in one hundred and forty-five 4.

Neonatal Glycemia and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes at 2 Years.

Background: Neonatal hypoglycemia is common and can cause neurologic impairment, but evidence supporting thresholds for intervention is limited.

Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study involving 528 neonates with a gestational age of at least 35 weeks who were considered to be at risk for hypoglycemia; all were treated to maintain a blood glucose concentration of at least 47 mg per deciliter (2.6 mmol per liter).

Global motion perception is independent from contrast sensitivity for coherent motion direction discrimination and visual acuity in 4.5-year-old children.

Global motion processing depends on a network of brain regions that includes extrastriate area V5 in the dorsal visual stream. For this reason, psychophysical measures of global motion perception have been used to provide a behavioral measure of dorsal stream function. This approach assumes that global motion is relatively independent of visual functions that arise earlier in the visual processing hierarchy such as contrast sensitivity and visual acuity.

Refractive error, binocular vision and accommodation of children with Down syndrome.

Background: In this review of the visual development of children with Down syndrome we were specifically interested in how refractive error, binocular alignment and accommodation are different in Down syndrome from the general population. The differences and their aetiology will help practitioners make informed decisions about the visual assessment and management of these children.

Methods: Articles found using searches through Scopus, Medline and Google Scholar were evaluated by examining sample sizes, appropriate use of controls, methods of measurement and statistical significance of findings.

Differences between wavefront and subjective refraction for infrared light.

Purpose: To determine the accuracy of objective wavefront refractions for predicting subjective refractions for monochromatic infrared light.

Methods: Objective refractions were obtained with a commercial wavefront aberrometer (COAS, Wavefront Sciences). Subjective refractions were obtained for 30 subjects with a speckle optometer validated against objective Zernike wavefront refractions on a physical model eye (Teel et al.

Global motion perception in 2-year-old children: a method for psychophysical assessment and relationships with clinical measures of visual function.

Purpose: We developed and validated a technique for measuring global motion perception in 2-year-old children, and assessed the relationship between global motion perception and other measures of visual function.

Methods: Random dot kinematogram (RDK) stimuli were used to measure motion coherence thresholds in 366 children at risk of neurodevelopmental problems at 24 ± 1 months of age. RDKs of variable coherence were presented and eye movements were analyzed offline to grade the direction of the optokinetic reflex (OKR) for each trial.

A proposed model of the response of the anophthalmic socket to prosthetic eye wear and its application to the management of mucoid discharge.

Mucoid discharge associated with prosthetic eye wear can be a distressing condition that affects the quality of life of people who have lost an eye. Discharge is the second highest concern of experienced prosthetic eye wearers after health of the companion eye and is prevalent in anophthalmic populations. Specific causes of mucoid discharge such as infections and environmental allergens are well understood, but non-specific causes are unknown and an evidence based protocol for managing non-specific discharge is lacking.

Deposit buildup on prosthetic eye material (in vitro) and its effect on surface wettability.

Background: The aim of this in-vitro study was to investigate the effect of different polishing standards on prosthetic eye material (poly(methyl methacrylate) [PMMA]) on surface wettability and the rate of protein and lipid buildup.

Methods: Sample disks (12 mm diameter × 1 mm thickness) of PMMA were polished to three different standards of surface finish: low, normal, and optical quality contact lens standard. The sample disks were incubated in a protein-rich artificial tear solution (ATS) for the following periods of time: 1 second, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, 24 hours, and 14 days.

The response of the anophthalmic socket to prosthetic eye wear.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the inflammatory response of the anophthalmic socket to prosthetic eye wear.

Methods: One hundred and two prosthetic eye wearers were recruited for this observational study. Photographic grading scales were used to measure the severity of conjunctival inflammation and the extent and intensity of stained deposits on the prosthetic eyes.

Visual acuity during direct laryngoscopy at different illuminance levels.

Background: Adequate light is essential for vision during direct laryngoscopy. The ISO 7376:2009 standard specifies the minimal illuminance for laryngoscopes. No studies have objectively examined the relationship between laryngoscope illumination and visual acuity during laryngoscopy.

Biosocial profile of New Zealand prosthetic eye wearers.

Aim: To describe the biosocial profile of New Zealand (NZ) artificial eye wearers and establish a basis for future research and international comparison.

Methods: This retrospective study surveyed 431 NZ artificial eye wearers to investigate their ethnicity, gender, age, causes of eye loss, age of current prosthesis, ocular prosthetic maintenance regimes and the extent and severity of discharge associated with prosthesis wear.

Results: Approximately 3000 people wear artificial eyes in NZ.

Deposit buildup on prosthetic eyes and implications for conjunctival inflammation and mucoid discharge.

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate deposit buildup on prosthetic eyes and the implications for conjunctival inflammation and discharge.

Methods: Forty-three prosthetic eye wearers participated in the study. Twenty-three had their prostheses polished normally before being worn continuously for 2 weeks.

The development of measurement tools for prosthetic eye research.

Background: The aim was to develop tools to measure the condition of ocular prostheses and the socket's response to prosthetic eyewear.

Methods: A novel staining technique for displaying deposits on prosthetic eyes was developed. Equal interval perceptual grading scales for measuring inferior palpebral conjunctival inflammation, and anterior and posterior stained surface deposits on prosthetic eyes were developed from 800 photographs of 43 volunteers.