Severe retinopathy of prematurity in infants <30 weeks' gestation in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory from 1992 to 2002.

BACKGROUND

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) significantly increased in New South Wales (NSW) from 1986 to 1994, but more recent data suggest that there has now been a decrease.

OBJECTIVE

To study the incidence and treatment of severe ROP (stage >or=3) in NSW and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) from 1992 to 2002.

METHODS

Data collected prospectively from the Neonatal Intensive Care Units' (NICUS) Data Collection over an 11-year period in infants <30 weeks' gestation were divided into four epochs and analysed retrospectively. The incidence and treatment of severe ROP were compared for gestational ages <or=24 weeks', 25-26 weeks' and 27-29 weeks' gestation over the four epochs.

RESULTS

In infants <or=24 weeks' gestation the incidence of severe ROP and those treated increased significantly (stage >or=3: from 17 (41.5%) to 41 (53.9%), p=0.052; treated: from 8 (19.5%) to 25 (32.9%), p<0.05 (first and fourth epoch)). In infants 25-26 weeks' gestation the incidence of severe ROP decreased significantly whereas there was a non-significant increase in those treated (stage >or=3: from 55 (26.2%) to 46 (19.3%), p<0.05; treated: from 19 (9.0%) to 32 (13.4%)). In infants 27-29 weeks' gestation, there was no significant change in the incidence of severe ROP or those treated (stage >or=3: from 30 (4.1%) to 17 (2.4%); treated: from 14 (1.9%) to 8 (1.1%)).

CONCLUSION

In infants <or=24 weeks' gestation there has been a significant increase in severe ROP, and in infants <27 weeks' gestation the numbers treated for severe ROP increased.