BACKGROUND: We conducted a nationwide population-based case-control study to analyse potential predisposing factors for hearing loss (HL) that present during the fetal, perinatal, and postnatal periods in prematurely born children.
METHODS: This study enrolled 21,576 children born at < 37 weeks of gestation; 3,596 with HL and 17,980 with normal hearing born between 2002 and 2015, matched for sex, age at diagnosis, and enrollment time. Data were abstracted from the concatenation of three nationwide databases for overall risk factors till the diagnosis of HL.
RESULTS: Maternal HL, maternal diabetes, particularly type 1 diabetes mellitus, and at or before 32 weeks of gestation were the major obstetric risk factors for HL. Prematurely born children who were born via cesarean section and received a combination of antenatal steroids and magnesium sulfate exhibited a significantly reduced risk of developing HL. Ear malformation was a critical predictor for HL. The major postnatal risk factors included seizure and ototoxic drugs use. Premature infants diagnosed with more than 1 diagnosis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, necrotizing enterocolitis, and intracerebral hemorrhage were at an increased risk of developing HL. Congenital CMV infection and recurrent acute otitis were also independent postnatal factors for HL in prematurely born children.
CONCLUSIONS: To reduce the incidence of childhood HL in prematurely born children, aggressive management of premature birth-related consequences and treatable causes and longitudinal audiological follow-up with early detection and adequate intervention are crucial.

Preterm children (born <37 gestational weeks) who are born at very early gestational age (<32 weeks, very preterm, VP) and/or with very low birth weight (≤1500 g, VLBW) are at increased risk for language and literacy deficits. The continuum between very early language development and literacy skills among these children is not clear. Our objective was to investigate the associations between language development at 2 years (corrected age) and literacy skills at 7 years in VP/VLBW children. Participants were 136 VP/VLBW children and 137 term controls (a 6-year regional population cohort, children living in Finnish-speaking families). At 2 years of corrected age, language (lexical development, utterance length) was assessed using the Finnish version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory and the Expressive Language Scale from Bayley scales of Infant Development, second edition. At 7 years, children\'s literacy skills (pre-reading skills, reading, and writing) were evaluated. Statistically significant correlations were found in both groups between language development at 2 years and literacy skills at 7 years (r-values varied between 0.29 and 0.43, p < 0.01). In the VP/VLBW group, 33% to 74% of the children with early weak language development had weak literacy skills at 7 years relative to those with more advanced early language skills (11% to 44%, p < 0.001 to 0.047). Language development at 2 years explained 14% to 28% of the variance in literacy skills 5 years later. Language development at 2 years had fair predictive value for literacy skills at 7 years in the VP/VLBW group (area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) values varied between 0.70 and 0.77, p < 0.001). Findings provide support for the continuum between very early language development and later language ability, in the domain of literacy skills in preterm children.

This prospective longitudinal study compared the psychological development and patterns of attachment of 20 prematurely born children and 20 full-term children at 7 years of age. The School-age Assessment of Attachment (SAA) was used, and hypotheses and interpretation of the findings were drawn from the Dynamic-Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation (DMM). Significant differences between prematurely born and full-term children were found: 10% versus 0% at \"high\" risk, 55% versus 25% at \"moderate\" risk, and 35% versus 75% at \"low\" risk. There were no differences in the percentage of psychological trauma between samples, but there was a difference in the types of experiences leading to trauma. For prematurely born children, it was most often illness, whereas for full-term children, it was family problems. We discuss the implications for clinicians.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose was to study the effect of prematurity on the macula-disc centre distance and whether it could be used as a reference tool for determining the size of retinal features in prematurely born children by fundus photography.
METHODS: The macula-disc centre distance of the left eye was measured in pixels from digital fundus photographs taken from 27 prematurely born children aged 10-11 years with Topcon fundus camera. A conversion factor for Topcon fundus camera (194.98 pixel/mm for a 50° lens) was used to convert the results in pixels into metric units.
RESULTS: The macula-disc centre distance was 4.74 mm, SD 0.29. No correlation between ametropia and the macula-disc centre distance was found (r = -0.07, p > 0.05). One child (subject 20) had high myopia and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), and the macula-disc centre distance was longer than average (6.35 mm).
CONCLUSIONS: The macula-disc centre distance in prematurely born children at the age of 10-11 years provides an easy-to-use reference tool for evaluating the size of retinal features on fundus photographs. However, if complications of ROP, for example temporal macular dragging or high ametropia, are present, the macula-disc centre distance is potentially altered and a personal macula-disc centre distance should be determined and used as a refined reference tool.