A Retrospective Descriptive Study of Incidence and Outcome of Retinopathy of Prematurity in Level-3 Nicu in a Tertiary Care Centre

Abstract

BACKGROUND Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is a vasoproliferative disease affecting the eyes of premature infants. ROP continues to be one of the important preventable causes of childhood blindness. The most important determinant of any ROP management program is an effective screening strategy. MATERIALS AND METHODSAn ROP retrospective descriptive study was performed for a duration of 6 months between January 2017 and June 2017, in which babies with a gestational age of 34 weeks or less and a birth weight of 2000 g or less were included. Infants whose gestational age was more than 34 weeks or birth weight more than 2000 g were included if babies had any other comorbidities. The study was done by performing ROP screening in babies, staging the disease and documenting the risk factors. The outcome and management of those diagnosed with ROP was noted too. RESULTSA total of 160 babies (85 males and 75 females) had retinal evaluation from the fourth postnatal week and followed up periodically. Sixteen infants developed any stage ROP accounting for ten percent incidence among all the enrolled and screened babies. Stage I ROP was seen in nine infants, Stage II in three infants and Stage III in two infants. Stage IV or V ROP was detected in one case each. Male predominance was noted in the study. Respiratory distress and sepsis were noted to be the most frequent risk factors. Of all sixteen cases that developed ROP, 8 cases required laser photocoagulation accounting to 50 percent of ROP cases and five percent of the total screened infants. CONCLUSIONScreening for ROP aids in timely diagnosis, would facilitate early interventional strategies leading to prevention of ocular morbidity and blindness. The incidence of ROP is relatively less in our setup, probably due to monitored oxygen therapy and proper screening protocols.