The effect of ibuprofen and caffeine prophylaxis on retinopathy of prematurity

Abstract

To determine whether prophylactic caffeine and ibuprofen, which have been shown to have vascular endothelial growth factor-modulating properties in other contexts, have a detectable effect on the incidence of severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) when administered in extremely low birth weight infants during the first 48hours of life. In this retrospective cohort study, the incidence and severity of ROP with respect to total exposure to caffeine and ibuprofen were assessed. The effect of oxygen exposure at 28days' postnatal age (PNA) and 36weeks' corrected gestational age (GA) was also studied. A total of 109 infants were included; of these, complete data were available for 93 infants (87%), of whom 18 (19%) had severe ROP (ETROP type 1, or stage 3), and 75 (81%) had mild-to-moderate ROP at final diagnosis. Infants with severe ROP had lower GA (P=0.0006). Total caffeine and ibuprofen exposure did not vary with severity of ROP (P=0.86 caffeine; P=0.57 ibuprofen). Presence of oxygen at 28days' PNA (P=0.01) or 36weeks' corrected GA varied significantly with ROP severity (P=0.0005). A relationship between prophylactic caffeine and ibuprofen exposure and severity of ROP could not be detected in our study cohort. Presence of oxygen at 28days' PNA or 36weeks' corrected GA was associated with ROP severity.