Screening for retinopathy of prematurity: evaluation and modification of guidelines.

AIMS: To evaluate current screening guidelines for ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) and to determine whether they can be modified.

METHODS

In accordance with the authors' present criterion, infants born in Stockholm County, Sweden, from 1 August 1998 to 31 July 2000, with a gestational age of < or =32 weeks, were screened for ROP. The effectiveness of screening was studied.

RESULTS

The incidence of ROP was 25.5% in this study. A dropout group comprising almost 20% of the population studied (< or =32 weeks), was never referred, were lost to follow up, or died before screening was completed. No infant with a gestational age of >31 weeks at birth developed severe ROP (stages 3-5) and no infant with a gestational age of >29 weeks was treated for ROP.

CONCLUSION

80% of infants in this population with a gestational age at birth of < or =32 weeks, the current screening criterion, were effectively screened for ROP. The authors recommend that the screening criterion be lowered to </=31 weeks since no infant with severe ROP would have been missed.