Jandeck C., Kellner U., Heimann H., Foerster M. H.

Augenklinik UKBF, FU Berlin, 12200 Berlin

Background: Due to better care at neonatal intensive care units (NICU) the mortality rates for premature infants decreased during the last decade. The number of immature children increased. There is a controversial discussion wether this influences the incidence of ROP. Purpose of this study was to analyze the incidence of ROP of premature infants of 23-32 weeks gestational age at one NICU over a ten years period.
Patients and methods: From 1991-2000 all premature infants born with = 32 weeks gestational age at UKBF were screened for ROP between 5-7 weeks after birth and their disease classified according to the international classification for ROP.
Results: 628 children were screened and followed during the acute stage of ROP. 435 (69.3%) infants did not develop any stage of ROP. 193 (30.7%) infants developed stage 1- 3 ROP. Maximum stage of ROP was stage 1 in 51 (8.1%) infants, stage 2 in 53 (8.4%) infants and stage 3 below threshold disease in 56 (8.9%) infants. 32 (5.1%) infants reached threshold disease and underwent coagulation treatment. The annual incidence for any stage of ROP was 25.4% to 38.9% during the observation period. The mean gestational age decreased during the last 10 years from 31.4 weeks to 28.5 weeks. The individual risk for stage 3 ROP increased with decreasing gestational age. Infants of 29-32 weeks gestational age had an incidence of stage 3 ROP < 3%. Infants of 24 weeks gestational age had an incidence of stage 3 ROP of 52.6%.
Conclusion: The overall incidence of ROP varied during the 10 years observation period and was not related to the decreasing gestational age. The individual risk for stage 3 ROP increased with decreasing gestational age or decreasing birth weight.

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