Foveal Layer Morphology Detected on Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography and its Correlation with Visual Acuity in Asian Indian Premature Infants in their First Year of Life

Purpose: To report foveal microanatomy imaged on handheld spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT) and correlate it with visual acuity in Asian Indian premature infants.Methods: A retrospective analysis of 32 Asian Indian premature infants, 10 with Type 2 retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), were imaged between 3 and 12 months of corrected postmenstrual age (PMA) on the handheld SDOCT (Envisu 2300, Bioptigen, DNC, USA). The foveal findings on these images were correlated with visual acuity measured using Teller acuity cards. The study cohort was divided into three groups based on the corrected age, 3-Results: The mean visual acuity of the three groups was 1.60, 1.63, and 1.23 logMAR, respectively (p <0.001). Visual acuity significantly correlated with all four layers (IRL fusion, ELM, EZ, and OS-RPE in the 3-Conclusions: The study provides insights into our understanding of a premature infant's foveal maturation in the first year. Inner retinal fusion or maturation is the most important event that correlates with better visual acuity throughout the first year. In addition, between 9 and 12 months PMA, the completion of the EZ at the foveal center positively influenced visual acuity. The presence of ROP did not influence development of the layers, but the sample size was small for subgroup analysis.