Risk Factors for Retinopathy of Prematurity in Extremely Preterm Chinese Infants

To investigate the incidence and risk factors of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and Type 1ROP in extremely preterm Chinese infants. A retrospective review of medical records was performed of all extremely preterm neonates (gestational age, GA <= 28 weeks) screened for ROP from 2007 to 2012 at an ophthalmology centre in HongKong. Thirty-three maternal and neonatal covariates were analyzed using univariate and multivariate regression analyses for both ROP and Type 1 ROP. The mean gestational age (GA) was 26.4 +/- 1.3 weeks and the birth weight (BW) was 855.0 +/- 199.0 g. The incidence of ROP development was 60.7% and 16.2% for Type 1 ROP. On univariate analysis, 6 risk factors were identified for ROP development including: lighter BW; lower GA; postnatal hypotension; inotrope use; surfactant use; and invasive mechanical ventilation (all P <= 0.01). On multivariate analysis, neonatal congenital heart disease and greater GA were protective factors for ROP development (P <= 0.04). On the other hand, 4 risk factors were associated with Type 1 ROP development in univariate analysis, including: lower GA, lighter BW, multiple pregnancies, and invasive mechanical ventilation (all P <= 0.02); while there was no significant risk factors on multivariate analysis. A lighter BW and lower GA were the only common independent risk factors for both ROP and Type 1 ROP while neonatal congenital heart disease and greater GA were the protective factors against ROP.