Abstract
Importance: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a preventable cause of blindness in children. Without treatment, more than 45% of eyes may suffer permanent vision loss. Current ROP screening guidelines, which include a range of birth weights (BWs) and gestational ages (GAs), may require screening many low-risk preemies who might develop severe ROP.Method: All high-risk infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from 2017 to 2021 were included in this retrospective cohort study. Each of the 27 candidate risk factors was evaluated in univariate analysis and adjusted for known risk factors (i.e., GA and BW). The significant results were analyzed in a backward selection multivariate logistic regression model. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and a nomogram were drawn.Results: The study included 2,040 infants who underwent ROP screening. The weight gain rate [OR, 2.65; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.49–1.21 ≤ 12 g/d vs. > 18 g/d; P = 0.001], blood transfusion (OR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.14–3.64; P = 0.017), invasive mechanical ventilation (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.15–2.66; P = 0.009) and N-terminal segment of pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) ≥ 25,000 ng/L (OR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.00–2.28; P = 0.048) were four new statistically independent risk factors in addition to GA and BW. The area under the curve (AUC) of the final multivariate model was 0.90 (95% CI, 0.88–0.92; P < 0.001).Conclusions and Relevance: These findings add to our understanding of ROP screening because they include all eligible infants rather than only high-risk infants, as in previous studies. Under the control of BW and GA, low weight gain rate, increased number of blood transfusion, invasive mechanical ventilation and NT-proBNP ≥ 25,000 ng/L were “new” statistically independent risk factors for ROP. The ROP risk can be calculated manually or represented by a nomogram for clinical use.
Highlights
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a serious vascular proliferative disease of the retina in premature infants that can lead to visual impairment or blindness in children
The ophthalmic examination to confirm ROP was performed with a median postmenstrual age (PMA) of 35.2 weeks
Demographic and clinical factors independently associated with ROP include: low gestational age (GA) (OR, 13.11; 95% confidence interval (CI), 5.90–29.15 ≤ 28 vs. > 32 weeks; P < 0.001), low birth weight (BW) (OR, 9.65; 95% CI, 4.64–20.06 < 1,000 vs. ≥ 1,500 g; P < 0.001), low weight growth rate (OR, 2.65; 95% Cl, 1.49–4.72 ≤ 12 vs. > 18 g/d; P = 0.001), blood transfusion (OR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.14–3.64; P = 0.017), invasive mechanical ventilation (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.15–2.66; P = 0.009) and NT-proBNP ≥25,000 ng/L (OR, 1.51; 95% Cl, 1.00–2.28; P = 0.048)
Summary
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a serious vascular proliferative disease of the retina in premature infants that can lead to visual impairment or blindness in children. This is mainly due to the mismatch between the supply and demand of oxygen in the retina [1, 2]. The population of infants at risk for ROP varies by geographic region [3]. The highest-risk infants are those with gestational age (GA)
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