Retinopathy of Prematurity, A Hospital based Study

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Retinopathy of prematurity is a vasoproliferativedisorder of the retina among premature infants. It is animportant cause of preventable blindness in children. Recentadvances in neonatal care in the last decade have improved thesurvival rates of premature infants, consequently the incidenceof retinopathy of prematurity has increased in parallel. Theobjective of the present study was to identify the risk factorsassociated with development of ROP in preterm neonates.Material and Methods: This was a prospective observationalstudy conducted on all preterm neonates admitted in theneonatology section of Government Medical College Srinagarwho fulfilled the criteria for ROP screening.Results: A total of 150 preterm neonates were screened, out ofwhich 32 had ROP of different stages. 7 babies were detectedwith stage 3 ROP and needed laser therapy. Risk factorsassociated with ROP were studiedConclusion: Our study revealed 21.3% incidence of ROP.Prematurity, low birth weight and oxygen therapy were foundto be strong predictors of ROP. Sepsis,blood transfusionand apnea were found to be statistically significant factorsassociated with ROP