PURPOSE

To report the four-year experience of the Stanford University Network for Diagnosis of Retinopathy of Prematurity (SUNDROP) telemedicine initiative, which was developed to reduce the risk of blindness from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A retrospective analysis of the SUNDROP archival data between 12/1/2005 and 11/30/2009. A total of 410 consecutively enrolled infants meeting ROP screening criteria had nurse-obtained fundoscopic images evaluated remotely by an ROP specialist. Every infant then received at least one dilated bedside binocular indirect ophthalmoscope (BIO) examination within one week of discharge. All infants were then followed with both telemedicine images and bedside evaluation in clinic according to recommended screening timelines. Primary outcomes were treatment-warranted ROP (TW-ROP), defined as Early Treatment of ROP Type 1, and adverse anatomical outcomes.

RESULTS

The SUNDROP telemedicine screening initiative has not missed any TW-ROP in its four-year evaluation period. A total of 410 infants (820 eyes) were imaged, resulting in 1486 examinations and 18,097 unique images. An average of 12.2 images were obtained per patient. Fourteen infants met TW-ROP criteria on telemedicine examination. After bedside evaluation, 13 infants required laser photocoagulation and one was followed until he spontaneously regressed. Infants with TW-ROP had a significantly lower gestational age (24.9 weeks), birth weight (658.7 grams), and were more likely to be male than the no TW-ROP cohort (all p values <0.00001). Telemedicine had a calculated sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 99.8%, positive predicative value of 92.9% and negative predictive value of 100% for the detection of TW-ROP. No patient progressed to retinal detachment or any adverse anatomical outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

The SUNDROP initiative demonstrated a high degree of diagnostic reliability and was able to capture all infants with TW-ROP. Telemedicine offers a cost-effective, reliable and accurate screening methodology for identifying infants with TW-ROP without sacrificing quality of care.