Anne Fulton, MD
Associate Professor of Ophthalmology
Harvard Medical School/Children's Hospital

MRRC Project(s)

R01 EY10597-06
Photoreceptor Function in Retinopathy of Prematurity

This research is based on our notion that the photoreceptors play a pivotal role in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Thus, the growing photoreceptors’ escalating demands for energy and oxygen contribute to the retinal hypoxia that leads to clinical ROP. Additionally, the photoreceptors are damaged if their oxygen needs are not met. In a study of the structural and biochemical properties of the photoreceptors in a rat model of ROP, we found that disorganized rod outer segments rather than rhodopsin content or outer segment length account for attenuation of the rod photoresponse parameters. We suspect that similar photoreceptor abnormalities are present in ROP subjects. We have commenced electroretinographic (ERG) and psychophysical studies of the photoreceptors in infants and children with ROP and also have defined the normal development of several retinal functions. Interpretation of data from the ROP subjects will depend critically upon comparison to these normative data.