[Study of retinopathy of prematurity in a university hospital]

To evaluate the prevalence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in newborns, classify the cases, describe the risk factors for disease and treatment.

A retrospective observational cross-sectional study including newborns with gestational age ≤ 32 weeks and/or weight ≤ 1,500 g admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of the Hospital de Clínicas, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (HC-UFU) during the period of July 2005 to June 2007.

We analyzed 148 patients. In 66 (44.6%) ROP was detected; 82 (55.4%) showed no disease. The statistically significant risk factors were: birth weight (p=0.0001), gestational age (p=0.0001), mechanical ventilation (p=0.0001), blood transfusion (p=0.0001), and postconceptional age (PCA) (p=0.0001). Of the 66 premature infants with ROP, 77% were treated medically (follow-up with indirect ophthalmoscopy) and 23% required surgical treatment or photocoagulation.

Based on the data above, the prevalence observed in this study was high. The development of ROP was inversely proportional to the weight and gestational age at birth.