Early rehabilitation in retinopathy of premature children

This study consider children affected by an evolutive stage of retinopathy of prematurity (III, IV, V degree) treated at the Foundation Robert Hollman during the last 10 years. The Foundation Robert Hollman is a center for children with severe visual limitation or blindness and/or other disabilities (early intervention and diagnosis/rehabilitation Center). In more than 50% result neuromotor and/or sensory impairments. The whole champion showed retarded psychomotor, cognitive and emotional development, usually present in pre-term newborns. Our rehabilitation program involves intervention in every area of the development. Special attention is devoted to visual stimulation, separated and/or integrated into other therapeutic activities. We observed in 25% of the sample an improvement of functional response in terms of progression from perception of light to perception of objects, increase in distance of location, development of skills like grasping objects and development of complex visual functions such as tracking, pursuit and scanning. In the other cases, there was no change on a decrease in visual interest/attention. The degree of maintenance and/or recovery of the functional visual response depends on the degree of ROP severity and at least in part, on how soon rehabilitation (visual stimulation and global intervention) can begin. The first years of life represent the period of greatest receptivity of the visual apparatus and of the central nervous system. Since 75% of the sample demonstrated no change in visual behaviour, we considered very important to concentrate the treatment on the overall development of the child and on the psychological support of the parents.