Hemorrhage in the eye in newborns in the area of the retina is common, while the tactics of treatment differ between specialists. In foreign literature, one can find data on an analytical study of the frequency and possible causes of this pathology in babies.
The data of some researchers are of interest to domestic specialists – as a material that makes it possible to judge the prevalence of this disease among newborns. This information can be found on the Internet at specialized sites.
Causes of hemorrhage in the eye in newborns
Bergen R. and Margolis S. conducted a study of the eye fundus in hundreds of healthy children on the first day of life, while 35% of the babies were found to have retinal hemorrhages. Scientists have suggested that in most cases, the cause of hemorrhage in the eye in newborns was the chosen obstetric procedure, namely the use of forceps during labor; also, a similar complication was often found in children whose births took a long time. In newborns whose mothers underwent a caesarean section, the pathology was diagnosed much less frequently.
Alex Schoenfeld gives slightly different statistics based on a study of the use of labor stimulants during labor. He found that when using dinoprostone in 40% of cases, hemorrhage in the eye is observed in newborns, in 28% of children retinal hemorrhage was detected when labor was stimulated with oxytocin.
M.Vaughn Emerson examined 149 newborns in the first thirty hours after their birth. The babies were examined every couple of weeks until the symptoms disappeared, while in 34% of cases intraretinal bleeding was detected. In some cases, these were hemorrhages in the form of dots in one of the eyes, there were bilateral total hemorrhages with a white center. The number of hemorrhages increased with the use of vacuum in the process of childbirth – this is 75% of cases, and the comparison was made with normal vaginal delivery. In a study of births during which a caesarean section was performed, the complication rate was only 7. An association was also found between gestational age and the frequency of intraretinal hemorrhages. With an increase in the first parameter, hemorrhages in the eye in newborns were more common. After a couple of weeks after birth, hemorrhages took place in 86% of cases, after four weeks, the researchers did not find any symptoms of hemorrhage in all babies in the study group.
O. Skalpe, K. Egge and JM Maltau conducted a study of the brain of babies who had an extensive hemorrhage in the eye, using computed tomography. When examining ten newborns, no changes were found in the brain tissues of children.
Treatment of hemorrhage in the eye in newborns
In children during the first month of life, it is quite common to notice a hemorrhage in the eye. In most cases, treatment of hemorrhage in the eye in newborns is not carried out, since the symptom does not pose any threat to the further growth and development of the baby, in addition, it passes on its own, and the vision of such children develops normally.
During medical examination within a month, hemorrhage occurs infrequently, since by this age it most often completely disappears. The medical literature does not describe an association between neonatal retinal hemorrhage and cerebral hemorrhage.