[Retinopathy of prematurity. Experiences with a routine examination]

Retinopathy of prematurity continues to be an important cause of serious visual impairment and blindness in children. We have previously suggested a schedule for ophthalmoscopic examinations to identify the serious cases where there may be indication for cryotherapy. We present our experience from this schedule, which covered premature infants with gestational age below 31 weeks and/or birth weight below 1,500 g. 103 infants in two neonatal intensive care units were monitored according to our schedule. Mean gestational age was 27.4 weeks (23 to 33 weeks). Mean birth weight was 995 g (530 to 1,650 g). Retinopathy was found in 27 infants. Six developed stage 3 "plus" disease and five of these had an indication for cryotherapy. No infant with gestational age over 26 weeks or birth weight over 1,000 g had stage 3 "plus" disease. The incidence of retinopathy in our series was low by international standards. We recommend that routine screening for retinopathy should continue in the above gestational age and birth weight groups. Ophthalmological examinations must begin at 5 to 6 weeks postnatal age.