Abstract
Purpose: :
To report the incidence, grade, localization, clinical characteristics and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in Costa Rica during 2001-2005.
Methods: :
Retrospective chart review of all premature newborns with a birth weight of < 1500 g or birth weight between 1500 g to 2000 g with risk factors for ROP that were screened for ROP during 2001-2005 at the ophthalmology service of the Hospital Nacional de Niños.
Results: :
A total of 1981 premature newborns were screened. Of these, 48.5% were females and the mean gestational age was 30.8 weeks. Of the total, 68.6% (1359/1981) were normal, 15.1% (299/1981) had grade I, 8.3% (165/1981) had grade II, 6.6% (130/1981) had grade III, 0.2% (4/1981) had grade IV, and 0.2% (4/1981) had grade V. In addition, 1.0% (20/1981) presented aggressive posterior ROP. The ROP patients had a mean of 29.3 weeks of gestational age and 1126 g of birth weight.Of the ROP patients, 28.5% (177/622) were treated. Of the treated group, 8.3%, 12.4% and 1.7% were grade 2 in zones I, zone II and zone III respectively and 1.7%, 54.2% and 6.8% were grade 3 in zones I, II and III. Before 2003 these patients were treated with cryotherapy and later with diode laser. Four patients (2.3%) were grade 4 and four patients were grade 5, all of these patients underwent a surgical treatment. The treated patients had a mean gestational age of 28.8 weeks and a mean birth weight of 1059 g. Neonatal sepsis and history of transfusions were significantly associated with threshold ROP.
Conclusions: :
During a five-year national screening of ROP in Costa Rica 31.4% of the screened premature newborns presented some degree of ROP and 8.93% required treatment. Patients with threshold ROP or worse presented a higher birth weight and gestational age than those from developed countries.
Keywords: retinopathy of prematurity • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence