Decreased incidence of retinopathy of prematurity, 1995-1997

To report a significant decrease in the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), both in our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and internationally, and review factors in patient care that may be contributory.

We retrospectively reviewed the records of all neonates weighing less than 1251 g admitted to our NICU from 1995 to 1997 and evaluated the incidence and stage of ROP. These data on 191 neonates were compared with an international NICU database of 9989 similar neonates, which represents all infants who received an ophthalmologic examination in the Vermont-Oxford Network Database (VOND) in 1997, except those from our institute (the University of Kentucky). In addition to investigating the incidence of ROP, we looked at the use of antenatal corticosteroids given 1 to 7 days prepartum, the use of oxygen at 36 weeks' postconceptional age, and the use of oxygen at home upon discharge.

In our center, we had a 36.1% incidence of ROP compared with an international incidence of 57.2% for the VOND in 1997 (P <.0001). Antenatal corticosteroids were given to 62.6% of infants in our center compared with 48.6% in the VOND (P <.005). In addition, 48.5% of our infants weighing less than 1500 g received oxygen at 36 weeks' postconceptional age versus 29.5% of the VOND infants (P <.001). Upon discharge to home, 37.5% of our infants were on oxygen compared with 15.6% of infants from all VOND centers, excluding the University of Kentucky (P <.001).

The incidence of ROP in our center from 1995 to 1997 and in the VOND in 1997 show a significant decrease from the 65.8% incidence from 1986 to 1987 reported by the Multicenter Trial of Cryotherapy for ROP.