RESUMEN
Objective To investigate the degree of retinal development in preterm infants. Methods Flash electroretinography (ERG) was performed on 25 healthy preterm infants and 25 full-term ones, and the response of rod cells and cone cells and maximal mixed responses were recorded. The delitescence and amplitudes of a- and b-waves and the ratio of amplitudes of b-/a-wave of maximal responses were analyzed. Results Compared with the full-term infants, The delitescence of responses of rod cells in preterm infants was statistically longer (.t=11.007,P.=0.000) but without any significant changes of amplitudes (.t=1.836,P.=0.069); statistically longer delitescence (.t=2.44, P=0.010; (t=10.800,)P.=0.000) and lower amplitude (.t=5.804,P=0.000; t=5.809,P.=0.000) of a- and b-wave of maximal response were found in preterm infants group. In the response of cone cells, there were significant differences of the delitescence (.t=4.444,P.=0.000) and amplitude (.t=3.819,P.=0.000)of a-wave and delitescence of b-wave(.t=2.850,P.=0.005) between the two groups, and no statistical difference of amplitude of b-wave (.t=0.486,P.=0.628) between the two groups. The ratio of amplitudes of b-/a-wave of the maximal mixed response was not significantly different between the two groups ((.t=1.142,)P.=0.256). Conclusions The development of retinal function is slower in preterm infants than that in full-term ones.