Sasmita Sahu, Swati Samikshya, Sharmistha Behera, Pramod Kumar Sharma, Rudra Prasad Panda
BACKGROUND Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a disorder of preterm infants in which the developing retinal blood vessels are not well developed which causes poor visual acuity or blindness. Blindness due to retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) or severe visual impairment can be prevented if at risk infants are screened before occurrence of advanced stages of ROP. This study was done to determine the incidence of ROP in western Odisha so far and the risk factors associated with it. METHODS Demographic factors and clinical information of all the 160 consecutive infants screened for ROP in Dept. of Ophthalmology, VIMSAR, Burla were recorded and thoroughly analysed. Infants’ gestational age (GA), PMA (postmenstrual age), birth weight (BW), gender, singleton or multiple births, being the first child, and their NICU/neonatologist’s recommendation for eye examination were recorded based on their medical records. Mothers’ LMP, delivery method, EDD were also inquired. Exposure to oxygen supplementation, history of neonatal sepsis, RDS, neonatal jaundice, blood transfusion, convulsion were also recorded according to medical records and databases are accordingly analysed univariately. RESULTS Among 160 eligible infants, 125 (78.1%) were found to have associated risk factors other than prematurity (group B), while 26.8% were only premature babies without any other risk factors (group A). Mean age at first eye exam in group A was 35 weeks of PMA versus 32 weeks in group B. The incidence of stage 4 and/or 5 was nil. Being the first child and single or multiple births did not contribute to the time of first eye exam significantly and neither did gender of the infant. CONCLUSIONS Providing sufficient information about ROP to parents and educating them about this potentially blinding condition is a must, so that blindness due to ROP can be checked by increasing the chance of on-time screening.
