Myopia Progression in Low Birth Weight Infants: A Narrative Review

Low birth weight infants are prone to an altered ocular development in childhood, resulting in refractive errors of the eye. Myopia (short-sightedness) is the most common refractive error of the eye that reduces vision.

A PubMed literature search was conducted using the following search terms: “low birth weight infant", “myopia", “prematurity", and “refractive error".

The underlying cause of myopia is usually excessive growth of the eye, which is under the influence of early-life pressure on human growth. Children with low birth weight have significantly shallower anterior chamber depth and thicker lens. At the ages of 10-12 years, preterm children have an increased likelihood of all types of refractive errors. However, in low birth weight children, a 1 diopter of myopic change occurs over the first decade of life.

The progression of myopia is higher in children with low birth weight, suggesting that prematurity and low birth weight may simultaneously affect the development of optical components, leading to myopia.