Retinopathy of prematurity in neonatal patients with birth weight greater than 1500 g in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND

To understand the characteristics, ophthalmic outcomes, and risk factors of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in patients with birth weight (BW) greater than 1500 g. The applicability of the ROP screening criteria to the Taiwanese population was also examined.

METHODS

The study included 104 eyes from 54 ROP patients who had BW greater than 1500 g from 1981 to 2008. Demographic information, disease courses, ophthalmic outcomes, and possible systemic risk factors were recorded. The infants were divided into groups of mild and severe ROP for a risk factor analysis.

RESULTS

The mean gestational age (GA) of the infants was 31 ± 1.3 weeks, and the mean BW was 1675 ± 249 g. Mild ROP regressed in 94 eyes (90%), and 10 eyes (10%) developed severe ROP. After various treatments, the regression rates for prethreshold or threshold ROP (n = 8) and stage 4 ROP (n = 2) were 100% and 50%, respectively. Forty-eight patients (85%) had at least three associated systemic risk factors. A multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that patients with an intraventricular hemorrhage were found to have an increased chance of developing severe ROP, especially those with BW greater than 1500 g (p = 0.015). There was also a significant association between patients who had severe ROP and an increased risk of having cerebral palsy (CP) at 1.5 years of age (p = 0.013).

CONCLUSION

The majority of patients with BW greater than 1500 g developed mild ROP. However, advanced ROP with poor visual outcome was also encountered in some patients.