Abstract
Purpose :
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is the most common avoidable cause of childhood blindness. Screening for ROP is highly effective in identifying infants requiring ROP treatment, thus preventing negative outcomes. We provide epidemiological data on ROP screening and treatment in Germany and evaluate the effects of recently adopted as well as potential future guideline adaptations.
Methods :
Datasets of the European EU-ROP Registry (www.eu-rop.org), the German Retina.net ROP Registry, the German Quality Assurance Procedure in Neonatology (IQTIG), and the ROP screening program of two German university hospitals were analyzed.
Results :
During the 13 years of 2010 to 2022, 141,550 infants received ROP screening in Germany and were included in the analysis. Incidence of ROP was 2.5 per 100,000 and year in the general population and 280 per 100,000 and year in newborns. Of screened infants, 23.0% developed ROP and 2.4% required treatment for ROP. Over the study period, treatment modalities shifted from laser coagulation to 83.7% anti-VEGF therapy in 2022. A change of national screening criteria in 2020 with a reduction of the gestational age limit from < 32 weeks to < 31 weeks resulted in a decrease of the number of infants requiring screening by 25.9% (p<0.0001). Infants with a birth weight ≥ 1500 g accounted for 35.2% of the screening population but only for 0.4% of ROP stage 3-5 cases.
Conclusions :
Collection of epidemiological data on ROP in national and international registries enables the continuous optimization of ROP screening and treatment criteria and the surveillance of screening success. In the German population, birth weight in addition to gestational age is a promising selection parameter to increase screening specificity.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.