Comments and Conclusions
• Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a leading cause of preventable childhood blindness.1
• The major risk factors for ROP are birth weight, gestational age, and supplemental oxygen treatment.1
• Infants with a birth weight lower than 1500g or gestational age less than 30 weeks are routinely screened for ROP. Of those infants screened, approximately 8% of them will require treatment for ROP.2
• With advances in medical technology, the survival rate of premature infants had drastically increased. The rate of premature births in the U.S. has risen more than 36% since 1981, which has increased the demand for the ROP screenings.2
• Since over 90% of those premature infants screened using the current guidelines do not require treatment, new screening guidelines are being developed. The new guidelines include monitoring post-natal weight gain and insulinlike growth factor (IGF-1) serum levels.2
• ROP is a two phase process; phase I is the termination of normal retinal vascular growth followed by phase Il which is retinal neovascularization. The extent or severity of phase Il is dependent on the preceding phase I in ROP.3