Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate the retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) incidence in preterm infants in the Neonatology Service of the University Hospital of Varese from 1996 to 2004, with regard to birth weight (BW) and gestational age (GA).
Methods: :
475 preterm infants (950 eyes) with BW of 1500gr or less and/or GA of 32 weeks or less were included. Every patient underwent fundus examination at 4–6 weeks old. We considered ROP stage I and II as "mild ROP" and ROP stage III, IIIplus, IV and V as "severe ROP".
Results: :
157 out of 950 eyes (16.5%) were affected by ROP: mild ROP incidence was 11.3% and severe ROP 5.2%. We identified two groups of patients: 42 (84 eyes) with BW of 750gr or less (group 1) and 53 (106 eyes) with GA of 26 weeks or less (group 2). In group 1 incidence of ROP was 66.6%: mild ROP 41.6% and severe ROP 25%. In group 2 incidence of ROP was 73.6%: mild ROP 40.5% and severe ROP 33.1%.
Conclusions: :
In our case study incidence and severity of ROP increase in proportion with BW of 750gr or less and GA of 26 weeks or less; in any case gestational age represents the most important risk factor.
Keywords: retinopathy of prematurity • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence • retina