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Not yet recruitingNCT06649513LTOO-XPUpdated Oct 18, 2024

Long-term Ophthalmic Outcomes in Ex-premature Infants

An observational study in Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) and Premature Birth, sponsored by Erasmus Medical Center. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in Netherlands. Open to participants aged 16 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-10-18.

Sponsored by Erasmus Medical Center · Observational

Study type
Observational
Model
Case-only
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
210
Ages
16 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

There is limited knowledge on ophthalmological outcomes in the adult population that was born prematurely. This study aims to evaluate the ophthalmic outcomes of ex-premature infants that have reached adolescence or adulthood.

Read the detailed description

Every year, around 18.000 children in the Netherlands are born prematurely, which means that they were born before 37 weeks gestational age. The WHO defines three different categories of prematurity: moderate to late preterm (32-37 weeks), very preterm (\<32-28 weeks), and extremely preterm (\<28 weeks). Preterm birth is associated with numerous health problems, which can have both short-term and long-term consequences on the development of the child. A relatively rare complication of (very or extreme) preterm birth is lifelong visual impairment or blindness due to retinal detachment as a result of prematurity retinopathy (ROP). ROP is a vasoproliferative condition that affects the vessels in the retina. An inventory study shows that 305 children were diagnosed with ROP in the Netherlands in 2017. The majority of these children experienced spontaneous regression of the condition, but 13% of cases required treatment to prevent retinal detachment. In the long-term, ROP predisposes for ocular conditions such as visual field abnormalities, refractive error, strabismus, amblyopia, glaucoma and retinal detachment. However, research also indicates that prematurity, regardless of ROP diagnosis, can also be associated with adverse ophthalmological outcomes such as refractive error, strabismus, amblyopia and cerebral visual impairment (CVI). Although there are various publications on the ophthalmological outcomes of ROP and prematurity at school-age, less is known about these outcomes in the adult population. This study aims to investigate the anatomy and functionality of the eye in ex-premature infants who were born between 1991 and 2006. In addition, the differences in outcomes between ex-premature infants with and without ROP, and the differences in outcomes between treated and spontaneously regressed ROP, will be studied.

02

Conditions studied

  • Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)
  • Premature Birth

Keywords

  • Retinopathy of Prematurity
  • Preterm birth
  • Visual acuity
  • Visual outcomes
  • Long term outcomes
03

In context

Retinal Diseases

815 studies on the registry are indexed under Retinal Diseases; 105 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 210 is above the median of 180 across 282 observational studies indexed under Retinal Diseases.

Browse Retinal Diseases studies →

Lead sponsor

Erasmus Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 466 studies on the registry; 179 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
16 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Premature patients who were eligible for ROP screening, who were admitted to Erasmus MC between 1991 and 2007.

Inclusion criteria

  • Subjects eligible for ROP screening, and admitted to Erasmus MC between 1991 and 2007.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects born after 2008,
  • Subject has passed away before the start of the study
  • Subject resides outside of the Netherlands
  • Subject has a physical or mental disability that makes it impossible to participate in a routine eye exam, or has a disability that classifies the subject as an incapacitated adult.
05

Study design

Observational model
Case-only
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
210 participants (estimated)
Patient registry
No

Groups and cohorts

  • Preterm patients

    Former patients who were born prematurely (GA \< 37 weeks)

    Diagnostic Test: eye drops (Tropicamid)

Interventions

  • Diagnostic testeye drops (Tropicamid)

    Mydriatic + cycloplegic eye drops are given to measure refractive error and to image the full retina.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Visual acuity

    Measured with ETDRS chart. Expressed in Logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution (LogMAR)

    Time frame: The primary outcome measure will be assessed at one single visit to Erasmus MC. This one-off measurement will not be repeated, nor is there a specific time-frame for this measurement.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Biometric, refractive, fundus and Optical coherence tomography (OCT) data.

    * Refraction (spherical equivalent) in dioptre (D) measured with an automatic refractometer. * Optical biometry measurements (axial eye length in millimeters, lens thickness in millimeters, anterior chamber depth in millimeters) measured with an optical biometer. * Intra-ocular pressure (IOP) in millimeter in mercury (mmHg) measured with a non-contact or contact tonometer. * Visual field abnormalities measured with a Humphrey Field Analyzer (HFA), expressed as Visual Field Index (VFI), Mean Deviation (MD) and Pattern Standard Deviation (PSD) in decibels (dB). * Macula thickness in micrometers (µm) measured on Optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. * Any anatomical abnormalities of the retina and choroid seen on OCT of fundus images. * Presence of ophthalmological diagnoses such as amblyopia or strabismus. * Relevant (ophthalmological) medical history/ophthalmological diagnosis in the past. * Self-reported health, educational level, screen time and activity level (questionnaire).

    Time frame: The secondary outcome measures will be assessed at one single visit to Erasmus MC. These one-off measurements will not be repeated, nor are there a specific time-frames for these measurements.

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Study locations

1 site
  • Erasmus MC
    Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland 3015 GD, Netherlands
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References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — We only plan to share anonymized and aggregated data.

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Oct 18, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06649513
Lead sponsor
Erasmus Medical Center
Responsible party
Angela M. Arends-Tjiam, MD PhD (Pediatric Ophthalmologist, Erasmus Medical Center) — Principal investigator
First posted
Oct 18, 2024
Start date
Nov 1, 2024 (estimated)
Primary completion
Nov 1, 2029 (estimated)
Completion
Nov 1, 2030 (estimated)
Last update
Oct 18, 2024

Study contacts

Angela Arends-Tjiam, Dr
Contact
a.arends-tjiam@erasmusmc.nl
+31653616960
Lizanne Derks, BSc
Contact
l.derks@erasmusmc.nl
+31653901136

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Oct 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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