Abstract
The tragedy of blindness from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) does not arise from a lack of knowledge about the disease. Based on results of large multicenter trials we know when sight-threatening acute retinopathy is most likely to develop we know that babies at risk are usually in hospital under medical care and we have treatments currently available that have been proven effective in markedly decreasing visual morbidity. Nevertheless blindness due to ROP is an emerging reality in many countries as survival rates of very premature babies improve. This is of particular importance in countries with medium levels of human development (as defined by the UN Development Program Index) in which the number of neonatal intensive care units is increasing rapidly and effective detection and treatment programs are not yet in place. Prevention of blindness from ROP requires a complex series of interactions that must be carefully choreographed. The paper by Fortes Filho et al. in this issue of Jornal de Pediatria highlights many important issues regarding the detection of sight-threatening disease. (excerpt)
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