Crystalline lens parameters in infancy

Abstract

Despite the importance of lens power to ocular development, few data are available regarding infant crystalline lens parameters. Lens and corneal radii of curvature were measured in the horizontal meridian using a video-based keratophakometer, and refractive error was measured by cycloplegic retinoscopy in 19 out of 27 infants ranging in age from 3 to 18 months. The median refractive error was +1.50 D, and the median corneal power was 43.5 D. Using previously reported values for axial ocular dimensions, the median anterior and posterior lens radii of curvature were 8.7 and 5.6 mm, respectively, both substantially flatter than infant schematic eye values. The median equivalent refractive index of the lens was 1.49, considerably higher than previous reported schematic values for infants or children. There was a significant reduction in hyperopia with age (r = −0.47, P = 0.043), but no age-related trends in lens or corneal radii of curvature, suggesting that calculated values for lens power and equivalent index may undergo substantial decline with age during early childhood development as axial length increases. Most of the decrease in lens power (75%) may be due to decreases in equivalent index rather than to flattening of the surface radii of curvature. Videophakometry appears to be a feasible and useful technique for documenting the role of the crystalline lens in infant ocular development.