H35: Other retinal disorders

H35.1: Retinopathy of prematurity

The retina is a layer inside the eye. It contains a lot of sensory cells that can perceive light. There are sensory cells for colors and sensory cells for light and dark. The sensory cells pass the information on to the nerve cells in the optic nerve.

There are some blood vessels in the retina. In your case, these blood vessels have changed. These changes are due to the fact that you were born prematurely. When you were born, the blood vessels in your retina were not fully developed. After you were born, the blood vessels may then have grown too much. There may be bleeding from the changed blood vessels. The retina may also become damaged or detached.

If the blood vessels in the retina are changed, there are often no symptoms at all initially. When there is retinal bleeding or retinal damage, one may see gray spots or shadows. One’s vision may then be worse, too. One may see things distorted or in unusual colors.