Serum fructosamine and retinopathy of prematurity.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether serum fructosamine which is a good marker for detecting hyperglycemia during the previous 2 to 3 wk in infants could predict the development of retinopathy of prematurity in very low birth weight infants.

METHODS

One hundred sixty seven premature infants who had a birth weight of < 1500 g and a gestational age of less than 32 wk were investigated in the present study. Blood glucose was measured at the bedside and infants were recorded as hyperglycemic if their mean blood glucose levels were higher than 150 mg/dL. Serum corrected fructosamine level was obtained from the cord blood at birth and after the first month of life. The infants' eyes were examined by ophthalmologists to detect retinopathy of prematurity at the gestational age of 32 wk or at four wk after birth, whichever came first.

RESULTS

Corrected fructosamine was 319.6 ± 59.6 and 272.8 ± 50.6 mmol/l for group 1 on 1(st) and 30(th) day respectively; 320 ± 61.7 and 268.2 ± 47.3 mmol/l for groups 2 + 3 on 1(st) and 30(th) day respectively which did not differ between groups (p = 0.766 and p = 0.665), whereas duration of hyperglycemia was 1.69 ± 1.1 day in group 1 compared with 3.05 ± 2.4 day in groups 2 + 3 which was significantly different (p = 0.019). The multivariate regression analysis indicated that the duration of hyperglycemia in days was significantly correlated with the development of retinopathy of prematurity (OR 3.26; 95% CI 1.09-9.80; p = 0.035).

CONCLUSIONS

Although the duration of hyperglycemia may contribute to the development of retinopathy of prematurity, serum corrected fructosamine does not have a good predictive value in developing retinopathy of prematurity in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants.