Research

Researchers' Vision to Protect Premature Babies from Blindness

Researchers at Queen's University Belfast have secured funding to investigate ways of preventing vision loss in premature babies. 'Fight for Sight' has awarded the researchers £92,000 for the study which aims to find a therapy that will protect the eyes of premature babies from the damaging effects of the high oxygen levels needed by premature babies.

Recent advances in neonatal care mean survival rates of premature babies, and especially babies born before 28 weeks, have increased considerably. These babies are very vulnerable and dependent upon high oxygen for survival, yet paradoxically can suffer damage to their eyes as a result. The name of this condition is Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) and is a major cause of visual impairment and blindness in young children.

The leader of the project, Dr McDonald, explained that the levels of oxygen given to the premature babies can at times be detrimental to their developing eyesight. "Oxygen given at high levels is damaging to the delicate blood vessels in the eye and can lead to permanent vision loss. The aim of this research is to investigate ways to protect these vessels from the effects of high oxygen in order to preserve sight in premature babies."

The condition occurs in two stages, as Dr McDonald explained, "In phase one, exposure of premature infants to high oxygen damages the immature retinal blood vessels, resulting in the light sensitive cells in the retina becoming starved when the oxygen treatment is discontinued. During the second phase of the disease, in an attempt to rescue the tissue, there is an overgrowth of new blood vessels that break out of the retina and invade the clear gel at the back of the eye. In that situation the blood vessels may bleed and cause scarring that leads to permanent loss of vision." "Current treatments focus on the second phase with limited success and significant side effects. The aim of our research is to find a therapy that will protect the vessels in phase one so that the second sight threatening phase of the condition is prevented."

EH News Bureau