Abstract
Purpose :
We preformed a retrospective clinical study to assess whether telemedicine screening for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) allowed timely and accurate diagnosis for treatment warranted ROP compared to bedside examination.
Methods :
We studied 130 eyes of 65 premature babies, comparing the postmenstrual age of patients with treatment warranted ROP determined by bedside examination (2006-2010) or telemedicine screening (2010-2014). Telemedicine screenings began during 2010 at Royal Oak Beaumont. All of the patients are in-born neonates at the Royal Oak Beaumont Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Gestational age and birth weight are similar in both groups. All eyes received laser treatment. The data is sorted out to examine the number of eyes and postmenstrual age (PMA) of patients who had laser treatment for ROP. Both methods of diagnosis are cross-referenced and the PMAs are compared statistically.
Results :
A total of 130 eyes of 65 infants meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria for this study. For the bedside examination infants, the range of gestational age (weeks) and birth weight (g) is from 23 to 29 3/7 weeks and 445 to 900g. For telemedicine-screened patients, the ranges are 23 1/7 to 26 3/7 weeks and 447 to 950g respectively. The p value of the gestational age between both groups is .46. There is a statistical difference in birth weight as bedside-screened neonates have an average of 618.9±115.9g and telemedicine screened have an average of 683±134 (p=0.043). From 2006 to 2010, 35 NICU patients were screened through bedside examination. The average PMA at laser treatment for these infants is 36.50 weeks. From 2010 to 2015, a total of 30 infants were photographically screened. The average PMA at treatment for the telemedicine-screened patients is 36.42 weeks. There is no statistical difference in PMA of both groups after adjusting for birth weight (p=. 58).
Conclusions :
Previous studies have documented that photographic telemedicine ROP screening allows for accurate diagnosis and better documentation than bedside examination with drawings. This is the first study that confirms that telemedicine also allows for appropriately timed treatment for early retinopathy of prematurity.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.