Incidence and Risk Factors Associated with Retinopathy of Prematurity in Peru

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to determine retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) prevalence and possible risk factors associated with ROP development in newborns admitted to a neonatal unit of a Peruvian National Reference Hospital. Patients and Methods: This retrospective study included 216 preterm infants. The data were collected between January 2016 and December 2018. All infants were examined according to Peruvian guidelines for screening and treatment of ROP. The association of clinical risk factors and the development of ROP was analyzed and predictive factors were determined. Results:The study subjects were 216 preterm infants of which 72 had some stage of ROP (32 stage 1; 23 stage 2 and 17 stage 3) and 144 preterm infants without ROP. The incidence of ROP in preterm infants less than 32 weeks was 60.9%, while for those weighing less than 1500 g it was 71.6%. The factors associated with ROP were gestational age below 32 weeks, birth weight below 1500 grams, neonatal sepsis, oxygen therapy, mechanical ventilation, hyaline membrane disease, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, persistence of ductus arteriosus and intraventricular hemorrhage. Exclusive breastfeeding was found to play a protective role against ROP. Binary logistic regression analysis found that only gestational age below 32 weeks (OR, 2.637; 95% CI, 1.04-6.69), weight below 1500 grams (OR, 4.377; 95% CI, 1.75-10.92), neonatal sepsis (OR, 6.517; 95% CI, 2.81-15.14), vaginal delivery (OR, 3.748; 95% CI: 1.54-9.14), and the presence of hyaline membrane disease (OR, 3.58; 95% CI,) are predictors of ROP. Conclusion:The incidence of ROP among very low birth weight infants was 71.6%. Infants with weight below 1500 grams, neonatal sepsis, presence of hyaline membrane disease whose mother had vaginal delivery are at risk for the development of ROP. Thus, preventing premature births and encouraging exclusive breastfeeding are two main ways to prevent ROP.

Association between Hematocrit in the First Two Hours of Life and Retinopathy during Prematurity: A Retrospective Study from DRYAD

“…The univariate logistic regression models of our study indicated that BW, GA, Apgar1, Apgre5, delivery room intubation and positive pressure ventilation, delivery room chest compressions and/or resuscitation medications, surfactant, pneumothorax, intubation within 24 hours of life, intubation any time during the NICU stay, any pRBC transfusion during the NICU stay, and peak bilirubin were all risk factors for ROP development. Our data also showed that premature infants with ROP had signi cantly lower GA and BW and lower Apgar1 and Apgar5 than non-ROP infants, which was consistent with the ndings of previous studies (12).…”

Clinical feature and predictive factor analysis for spontaneous regression of retinopathy of prematurity in a Chinese population

“…Obviously, the relationship between vaginal delivery and threshold ROP may be a link, although not necessarily a causal relationship [27] . During the natural delivery process, the mechanism of vaginal delivery and the stress dynamics may be harmful to the fetal cerebral blood vessels, leading to ischemia and subsequent reperfusion and/or oxidative stress, accompanied by related imbalance of hyperoxiahypoxia [28] .…”

Risk factors for retinopathy of prematurity: a current literature review

“…A multicenter study (CRYO-ROP) that enrolled 4,099 preterm infants with birth weights of less than 1251g showed that lower birth weight and lower gestational age significantly contributed to the development of retinopathy in preterm infants [6]. The thesis has been corroborated by the results of numerous metaanalyses reported in scientific studies [7][8][9].…”