Should fewer babies be screened for retinopathy of prematurity?

Authors

  • Chun-yu Ko Department of Ophthalmology, Caritas Medical Center, Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong, China.
  • Shing-yan Lee Department of Paediatrics, Princess Margaret Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
  • Woon-ming Chan Department of Ophthalmology, Caritas Medical Center, Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong, China.
  • Moon-kwong Tsang Department of Ophthalmology, Caritas Medical Center, Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong, China.
  • Raymond KK Tse Department of Ophthalmology, Caritas Medical Center, Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong, China.
  • Chun-bong Chow Department of Paediatrics, Princess Margaret Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.

Abstract

Aim: To determine whether the inclusion criteria for retinopathy of prematurity screening could be safely altered to reduce the amount of screening.

Patients and methods: A retrospective, hospital records- based study of 125 low birth weight babies in a tertiary neonatal care unit.

Results: The overall frequency of retinopathy of prematurity was 32% — 9.6% of infants had severe retinopathy of prematurity. All infants with severe retinopathy of prematurity had a gestational age of £ 29 weeks, or birth weight of £ 1245 g.

Conclusion: If screening is limited to infants with birth weights of <= 1500 g or a gestational age of <= 28 weeks, no case of severe retinopathy of prematurity would have been missed and 12.8% fewer infants would require screening. The possibility of using the latest American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for retinopathy of prematurity screening is discussed.

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Published

2001-12-01

How to Cite

1.
Ko C- yu, Lee S- yan, Chan W- ming, Tsang M- kwong, Tse RK, Chow C- bong. Should fewer babies be screened for retinopathy of prematurity?. Hong Kong J Ophthalmol [Internet]. 2001Dec.1 [cited 2025Jan.26];5(1):21-4. Available from: https://hkjo.hk/index.php/hkjo/article/view/121

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 1 (2001)

Section

Original Articles

License

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