Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a neurovascular disease that affects prematurely born infants and is known to have significant long term effects on vision. We conducted the studies described herein not only to learn more about vision but also about the pathogenesis of ROP. The coincidence of ROP onset and rapid developmental elongation of the rod photoreceptor outer segments motivated us to consider the role of the rods in this disease. We used noninvasive electroretinographic (ERG), psychophysical, and retinal imaging procedures to study the function and structure of the neurosensory retina. Rod photoreceptor and post-receptor responses are significantly altered years after the preterm days during which ROP is an active disease. The alterations include persistent rod dysfunction, and evidence of compensatory remodeling of the post-receptor retina is found in ERG responses to full-field stimuli and in psychophysical thresholds that probe small retinal regions. In the central retina, both Mild and Severe ROP delay maturation of parafoveal scotopic thresholds and are associated with attenuation of cone mediated multifocal ERG responses, significant thickening of post-receptor retinal laminae, and dysmorphic cone photoreceptors. These results have implications for vision and control of eye growth and refractive development and suggest future research directions. These results also lead to a proposal for noninvasive management using light that may add to the currently invasive therapeutic armamentarium against ROP.

早产儿视网膜病变（ROP）是一种神经血管疾病，会影响早产婴儿，并且已知会对视力产生重大的长期影响。我们进行了本文所述的研究，不仅是为了进一步了解视觉，而且还了解ROP的发病机理。ROP发作和棒感光细胞外部节段的快速发展伸长的巧合促使我们考虑棒在这种疾病中的作用。我们使用无创视网膜电图（ERG），心理物理和视网膜成像程序来研究神经感觉视网膜的功能和结构。在ROP是活动性疾病的早产天数年后，杆感光细胞和受体后反应显着改变。这些变化包括持续的杆功能障碍，在对全视场刺激的ERG反应和探测视网膜小区域的心理生理阈值中发现了受体后视网膜的补偿性重塑的证据。在视网膜中央，轻度和重度ROP会延迟小凹旁视阈的成熟，并与视锥细胞介导的多灶性ERG反应减弱，受体后视网膜层显着增厚以及视锥细胞畸形变态有关。这些结果对视觉以及眼睛生长和屈光发育的控制有影响，并提出了未来的研究方向。这些结果还提出了使用光进行非侵入性治疗的提议，该提议可能会增加当前针对ROP的侵入性治疗装备。