Postnatal Risk Factors of Retinopathy of Prematurity

ABSTRACT

In order to investigate the risk factors of retinopathy of prematurity[ROP], we retropspectively reviewed the medical records of 425 premature babies who had been admitted in our neonate intensive care unit between January 1994 and December 1998.After excluding 33 babies who had serious congenital anomalies, 83 out of 392 babies[20.7%]developed various stages of ROP.Gestational age and birthweight were the most significant risk factors. Among postnatal factors use of ventilator for 48 hours orlonger, apnea, and use of surfactant were independently increasing the progression of ROP in a linear logistic regression analysis.Other factors such as history of transfusion and sepsis had a tendency to worsen the retinopathy.On the other hand, fluctuation in blood gas, low apgar score or anemia did not seem to effect the progression of retinopathy. In conclusion, careful monitoring would be warrented when the premature babies had additional risk factors as listed above.