Author: Tim U. Krohne (Germany)
Co-authors: Andreas Müller, Wolf A. Lagrèze, Frank G. Holz, Andreas Stahl, Petra P. Larsen, - German Retina.net ROP Registry Study Group
Purpose
To evaluate current screening criteria for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) by investigating the incidence of ROP requiring treatment in infants with gestational age (GA) ≥30 weeks or postmenstrual age (PMA) <32 weeks in Germany.
Setting/Venue
Epidemiological study
Methods
Three patient databases were analyzed, including the German Quality Assurance Procedure in Neonatology (years 2011–2017; n=52 461 infants screened for ROP, 1505 infants treated for ROP), the German Retina. net ROP Registry (years 2011–2018; n=281 treated infants) and the ROP screening program of two German university hospitals (years 2012–2016; n=837 screened infants).
Results
In the analyzed cohorts, infants with GA ≥30 weeks represented 33.1%–38.5% of the screening populations but only 1.40%–1.42% of the cases requiring ROP treatment. The number needed to screen increased from 4 for infants with GA 23 weeks to 1,788 for infants with GA 31 weeks. In a cohort of 281 infants treated for ROP, all 4 infants with GA ≥30 weeks had additional risk factors for ROP including prolonged oxygen supplementation and/or significant comorbidities. Five infants (1.8%) were treated at 32 weeks PMA and none at PMA <32 weeks.
Conlusions
In the investigated cohorts, preterm infants with GA ≥30 weeks carried a very low or no risk for developing treatment-requiring ROP unless additional risk factors were present, and no treatment was performed earlier than 32 weeks PMA. These findings contributed to the recent revision of the German ROP screening criteria.
Financial Disclosure
Alimera Sciences (R, C), Allergan (R), Bayer (F, R, C), Heidelberg Engineering (R), Novartis (F, R, C), Roche (R, C) (disclosure codes: F, financial support of research projects; R, recipient of lecture fees, travel reimbursements; C, consultant)
Comments
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