Changes of the peripapillary vascular parameters in premature infants without retinopathy of prematurity using U-net segmentation.

Aim: To quantitatively assess the changes in mean vascular tortuosity (mVT) and mean vascular width (mVW) around the optic disc and their correlation with gestational age (GA) and birth weight (BW) in premature infants without retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

Methods: A single-center retrospective study included a total of 133 (133 eyes) premature infants [mean corrected gestational age (CGA) 43.6wk] without ROP as the premature group and 130 (130 eyes) CGA-matched full-term infants as the control group. The peripapillary mVT and mVW were quantitatively measured using computer-assisted techniques.

Results: Premature infants had significantly higher mVT (=0.0032) and lower mVW (=0.0086) by 2.68 (10 cm) and 1.85 µm, respectively. Subgroup analysis with GA showed significant differences (=0.0244) in mVT between the early preterm and middle to late preterm groups, but the differences between mVW were not significant (=0.6652). The results of the multiple linear regression model showed a significant negative correlation between GA and BW with mVT after adjusting sex and CGA (=0.0211 and =0.0006, respectively). For each day increase in GA at birth, mVT decreased by 0.1281 (10 cm) and for each 1 g increase in BW, mVT decreased by 0.006 (10 cm). However, GA (=0.9402) and BW (=0.7275) were not significantly correlated with mVW.

Conclusion: Preterm birth significantly affects the peripapillary vascular parameters that indicate higher mVT and narrower mVW in premature infants without ROP. Alterations in these parameters may provide new insights into the pathogenesis of ocular vascular disease.