Incidence of retinopathy of prematurity in Germany: evaluation of current screening criteria

TY - JOUR

T1 - Incidence of retinopathy of prematurity in Germany: evaluation of current screening criteria

AU - Larsen, Petra P

AU - Müller, Andreas

AU - Lagrèze, Wolf A

AU - Holz, Frank G

AU - Stahl, Andreas

AU - Krohne, Tim U

AU - Retina.net ROP Registry

N1 - © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

PY - 2021/3

Y1 - 2021/3

N2 - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate current screening criteria for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) by investigating the incidence of ROP requiring treatment in infants with gestational age (GA) ≥30 weeks or postmenstrual age (PMA) <32 weeks in Germany.METHODS: Three patient databases were analysed, that is, the German Quality Assurance Procedure in Neonatology (years 2011-2017; n=52 461 infants screened for ROP, 1505 infants treated for ROP), the German Retina.net ROP Registry (years 2011-2018; n=281 treated infants) and the ROP screening programme of two German university hospitals (years 2012-2016; n=837 screened infants).RESULTS: In the analysed cohorts, infants with GA ≥30 weeks represented 33.1%-38.5% of the screening populations but only 1.40%-1.42% of the cases requiring ROP treatment. In a cohort of 281 infants treated for ROP, all 4 infants with GA ≥30 weeks had additional risk factors for ROP including prolonged oxygen supplementation and/or significant comorbidities. Five infants (1.8%) were treated at 32 weeks PMA and none at PMA <32 weeks.CONCLUSIONS: In the investigated cohorts, preterm infants with GA ≥30 weeks carried a very low or no risk for developing treatment-requiring ROP unless additional risk factors were present, and no treatment was performed earlier than 32 weeks PMA. These findings are of relevance for the ongoing re-evaluation of ROP screening criteria.

AB - OBJECTIVE: To evaluate current screening criteria for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) by investigating the incidence of ROP requiring treatment in infants with gestational age (GA) ≥30 weeks or postmenstrual age (PMA) <32 weeks in Germany.METHODS: Three patient databases were analysed, that is, the German Quality Assurance Procedure in Neonatology (years 2011-2017; n=52 461 infants screened for ROP, 1505 infants treated for ROP), the German Retina.net ROP Registry (years 2011-2018; n=281 treated infants) and the ROP screening programme of two German university hospitals (years 2012-2016; n=837 screened infants).RESULTS: In the analysed cohorts, infants with GA ≥30 weeks represented 33.1%-38.5% of the screening populations but only 1.40%-1.42% of the cases requiring ROP treatment. In a cohort of 281 infants treated for ROP, all 4 infants with GA ≥30 weeks had additional risk factors for ROP including prolonged oxygen supplementation and/or significant comorbidities. Five infants (1.8%) were treated at 32 weeks PMA and none at PMA <32 weeks.CONCLUSIONS: In the investigated cohorts, preterm infants with GA ≥30 weeks carried a very low or no risk for developing treatment-requiring ROP unless additional risk factors were present, and no treatment was performed earlier than 32 weeks PMA. These findings are of relevance for the ongoing re-evaluation of ROP screening criteria.

KW - Birth Weight

KW - Comorbidity

KW - Female

KW - Germany/epidemiology

KW - Gestational Age

KW - Hospitals, University

KW - Humans

KW - Incidence

KW - Infant, Newborn

KW - Infant, Premature

KW - Male

KW - Neonatal Screening/methods

KW - Retinopathy of Prematurity/epidemiology

KW - Retrospective Studies

KW - Risk Factors

U2 - 10.1136/archdischild-2020-319767

DO - 10.1136/archdischild-2020-319767

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 32989047

VL - 106

SP - 189

EP - 193

JO - ARCH DIS CHILD-FETAL

JF - ARCH DIS CHILD-FETAL

SN - 1359-2998

IS - 2

ER -