Fused eyelids in premature infants.

The charts of 161 extremely premature newborns were reviewed to characterize and report the incidence of infants born with fused eyelids, to determine when postbirth eyelid dysjunction occurs, and to address the survivability of these infants. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between various ophthalmic outcomes and possible predictors of these outcomes. For babies born with eyelids fused, Cox regression analysis was used to assess time to eyelid opening. From the analysis of our data, we found that the critical time for eyelid opening is between 25.5 and 26.5 weeks gestational age. If fused at birth, the average time to eyelid opening after birth was 5.5 days. Fifty-two percent of babies born with their eyelids fused survived to be discharged from the hospital, compared to 83% of those born with eyelids open. Gestational age was found to be the most important predictor of the status of the eyelids at birth, of survival, and of the presence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Other variables were found to be significant, but the significance was lost once the variable was adjusted for gestational age.