Risk factor and outcome of retinopathy of prematurity among premature babies admitted to tertiary care hospital: a prospective observational study

Abstract

Background: Retinopathy of prematurity is a multifactorial vaso-proliferative retinal disorder that increases in incidence with gestational age. ROP is a vascular retinal disease that can cause low vision or blindness. ROP is a common blinding disease in children in the developed world despite current treatment and is becoming increasingly prevalent in the developing world. The purpose of this study was to determine risk factor and outcome of ROP among premature infants admitted to NICU of Shri B M Patil Medical College Hospital and Research Centre-Vijaypur. Methods: Preterm babies less than 35 weeks of gestation or less than 2000grams of birth weight delivered in or referred to Department of Paediatrics at B. L. D. E. U’s Shri B M Patil Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Vijayapur. Results: Of 153 neonates screened 49 infants had ROP. The incidence of ROP in this study was found to be 32.02% among the babies screened. 25 babies were in stage 1(51.0%) 19 babies were in stage 2(38.8%) two babies from stage 2 progressed to plus disease and 5 babies with APROP (10.2%). Conclusions: The present study reflects the problem of ROP in a tertiary care centre. The incidence of ROP in our study was 32.02 % for any stage. The percentage of neonates who had ROP in the gestational age group ≤32 weeks 36.5%, 24.1%in the 32-36 weeks gestational age group and 40 % in >35 weeks of gestational age group. A statistically significant correlation between birth weight and ROP was also shown in our study. Our study showed greater risk of developing ROP with birth weights less than 1750g. There exists a statistically very high significant correlation between ROP and supplemental oxygen. Also, there is a statistically significant correlation between RDS and ROP.