Retinopathy of Prematurity Screening Criteria in Turkey’s South Marmara Region

Özet

Objectives: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is the leading cause of preventable blindness in premature infants and a growing problem in the middle- and low-income countries. To prevent ROP, effective screening, prevention, and treatment programs are essential; they should be modified according to each country’s requirements. In this study, we offered mod-ified screening criteria for Turkish children. Methods: The medical records of the patients who had ROP screening between January 2015 and May 2018 were retro-spectively reviewed. Five different criteria were applied to all 1720 babies, as follows: ≤35 weeks and/or 2600 g, ≤34 weeks and/or 2400 g, ≤33 weeks and/or 2100 g, ≤32 weeks and/or 2000 g, and ≤31 weeks and/or 1800 g. The sensitivities and specificities were found for all the strategies. Results: In this study, a total of 1720 babies screened for ROP (774 girls and 946 boys) were evaluated retrospectively. The mean gestational age (GA) of the babies examined was 32.1±2.9 weeks (range 24–36 weeks), and the mean birth weight (BW) of the babies screened was 1817±594 g (range 510–3360 g). ROP was diagnosed in 430 (25%) of the patients, and of these, 165 (9% of all patients) required treatment. Overall, the screening protocols of ≤33 weeks of GA and ≤2100 g of BW had 100% sensitivity to detect treatment-requiring babies. Conclusion: The screening protocols used in highly developed countries are not suitable for all countries, especially for low- and middle-income countries. Thus, the criteria may miss a high number of ROP treatment-requiring patients. Neonatal intensive care unit should coordinate system and continuously updates the ROP screening guidelines so that these data could form a basis for the national ROP standards. We recommend screening premature patients of ≤33 weeks of GA or ≤2100 g of BW for our region.