Ultrasonic measurements of the eye in the newborn infant.

The right eyes of 28 newborn infants have been examined retinoscopically, and the anterior chamber depth, the lens thickness and the length of the virteous were measured by ultrasound. In 15 of the infants keratometry was performed using the Javal-Schiötz keratometer. The total axial length of the eye was found to be longer the heavier the weight of the baby, whereas the lens thickness showed no correlation to the total axial length or to the weight of the baby. In only 1/3 of the babies was the corneal astigmatism less than 0.5 D. A significant correlation (P less than 0.01) was found between the total axial length of the eye and the length of the corneal radius.