[Efficiency of detection and preventive treatment of retinopathy in premature neonates].

A total of 580 preterm babies born weighing 540-2500 g at terms less than 35 weeks were examined. The mean incidence of neonatal retinopathy under standard conditions of care in Moscow is 26%. The incidence of disease depends on body weight at birth and term of gestation. Risk factors conducive to the development of neonatal retinopathy are maternal diseases (gestosis, chronic somatic and gynecological diseases, hemorrhages in labor, detachment of placenta), and diseases of babies other than low body weight at birth and those due to preterm delivery (bronchopulmonary dysplasia, periventricular leukomalacia, intragastric hemorrhages, severe infection, early anemia, periods of hypercapnia and long oxygen therapy). The disease spontaneously regressed in 78% babies with stages I-II. In 32 (22%) babies the condition progressed to stage III. Preventive cryocoagulation was performed in 24 babies (48 eyes). The efficiency of preventive treatment is 70.4% and depends on the disease pattern. Cooperation of neonatologists and ophthalmologists essentially improves the diagnosis and prevention of severe forms of retinopathy neonatorum.