Abstract
Purpose :
Poor postnatal weight gain after the initial physiological loss of birth weight is a well known risk factor for developing retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Estimating weekly weight to predict the risk score is difficult in developing countries. We report the correlation of the ‘age of regaining birth weight’ (ARBW) as a predictor of ROP.
Methods :
68 Asian Indian infants born </= 2000 grams at birth or </= 34 weeks of gestation were enrolled. The number of days taken for these infants to regain their baseline birth weight (the 'ARBW' value) was recorded. This measure was correlated with the eventual ROP outcome categorized as ‘no’, ‘mild’ or ‘treatment requiring ROP’ respectively. A risk score is proposed to predict which babies could develop the disease based on this measure.
Results :
The mean birth weight of the cohort was 1270.44 grams and mean gestational age was 31.13 weeks. 33 developed 'no' ROP, 20 had 'mild' and 15 had 'treatment requiring' ROP respectively. The mean ARBW was 11.9, 17.9, 26.6 days for the ‘no’, ‘mild’ and ‘treated ROP groups respectively. (P<0.0001) (one-way ANOVA and Post Hoc test using Boneferroni correction). Using the “ARBW” measure and the overlapping standard deviations between the groups, we developed a risk score to predict ROP. There is a low risk if they regain their birth weight in <11 days, mild risk if it is between 11-14 days, moderate risk if it is between 14-20 days and high risk if it is >21 days.
Conclusions :
The ‘day of regaining the birth weight’ is easily recalled by mothers and physicians alike, making it a useful tool in estimating ROP risk. The risk score allows us to predict which baby may develop ‘treatment requiring ROP’ even before 21 days of life, which is the first mandated screening visit in India. This could allow a prudent approach for prognostication and follow-up of these infants.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.