Objective: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a disease of the eye
caused by disorganized growth of retinal blood vessels resulting in
scarring and retinal detachment. All preterm babies are at high risk
for ROP, and very low birth weight is an additional risk factor. An
increased incidence of ROP is expected in Iran because of improved
survival of low birth weight and premature babies, and it is obvious
that pediatricians and ophthalmologists are concerned about prevention
and timely treatment of ROP in these children. To asses the real
situation of ROP in our NICU we studied its prevalence and risk
factors. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of premature
infants with birth weight of ≤1500 grams or gestational age of
≤32 weeks, admitted April 1, 2005 to March 28, 2006, to the
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Qaem Hospital, Mashhad, Iran. The
collected data of 47 cases in this cross-sectional study are analyzed
by SPSS (Mann_Whitney, t-Student). Findings: Forty five infants were
included in the study. Out of these, 4 (8.5%) developed ROP (inclusive
all stages). Our analysis revealed that low gestational age, sepsis and
respiratory distress syndrome were independent predictors for the
development of ROP. Conclusion: The frequency of ROP in our hospital
was lower than the range reported in developed countries, and our risk
factors were a little different
