Proportion and severity of retinopathy of prematurity in preterm and among low birth weight babies in a tertiary care hospital in Tamil Nadu

Abstract

In India, the survival rates for preterm infants have increased, thereby risk of developing ROP has also increased. There are not enough reports on the prevalence of ROP in India. The aim of study is to determine the prevalence of retinopathy in preterm infants. Infants with birth weight, 2000 grams and gestational age 32 weeks and or 32-34 weeks with other risk factors of ROP were examined over a period of one year in a tertiary care hospital. Results: 68 infants full filled the inclusion criteria. The prevalence of ROP in our study was 22.05%.40% percent of the infants had stage 1 ROP, stage 2 was found in53.33%, stage 3 in only 6.66% preterm babies. The mean gestational age for ROP group is 28.20 with SD of 1.74 whereas for non ROP group is 30.58weeks with SD of 2.1. There is a significant differences between the ROP group and non ROP group p =0.001. The mean birth weight of ROP group is 1002 gram with SD of 0.24 and non ROP group is 1330 gram with SD of 0.41. There is a significant differences between the mean weight of ROP group and of non ROP group, P 0.007. Infants with lower birth weight and lower gestational age at birth had a significant higher incidence of ROP. Therefore, in order to make ROP as an avoidable cause of blindness in children, more emphasis should be given on early screening and detection of ROP in premature babies. Keywords: Retinopathy of prematurity, Low birth weight, Gestational age.