Do Thyroid Hormones have any Effects on the Development of Retinopathy of Prematurity?

Özet

Introduction: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a disease characterized by abnormal vascularization of the retina in preterm infants. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between ROP and serum thyroid hormones based on the known effects of thyroid hormones on angiogenesis. Methods: This retrospective study included infants born <34 weeks of gestation between January 2011 and January 2019 who were hospitalized from birth to at least the first month of life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and who had regular ROP examinations. The patients were divided into two groups as having ROP and no ROP. Patients diagnosed as ROP were divided into two subgroups as follows: treated ROP and untreated ROP. Variables, such as gender, gestational age (GA), birth weight (BW), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), duration of mechanical ventilation, duration of oxygen therapy, necrotizing enterocolitis and intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), together with serum-free T4 and TSH levels on postnatal 7th (sT4-1 and TSH-1) and 28th days (sT4-2 and TSH-2), were examined. Results: One hundred ninety-three infants without ROP (Group 1) and 152 infants with ROP (Group 2) enrolled in this study. Among 152 patients with ROP, 114 infants did not receive ROP treatment (Group 2a), and 38 infants received ROP treatment (Group 2b). In Group 2, free T4-1 and TSH-2 were significantly lower than in Group 1 (p<0.001). The sT4-1 and sT4-2 levels of Group 2b were significantly lower than those of Group 2a (p=0.042 and p=0.015, respectively). In the logistic regression analysis of risk factors, thyroid hormone levels were not found to be independently effective on the development of the ROP. Discussion and Conclusion: In this study, the findings suggest that thyroid hormones had no effect on ROP development. Larger and prospective studies may shed light on the effects of thyroid hormones on ROP development.