Prevalence and Predisposing Factors Heralding Retinopathy of Prematurity in Premature and Very Low Birth Weight Babies at a Tertiary Level Hospital of Bangladesh.

Several studies are being conducted worldwide to find out the prevalence of Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and any associated risk factors amongst preterm infants with very low birth weight (VLBW), birth weight ≤1500gm and Extreme low birth weight (ELBW) birth weight ≤1200gm. At the SCABU (Special Care Baby Unit) of Bangladesh Institute of Research and Rehabilitation for Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (BIRDEM) General Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh a prospective observational study was conducted from October 2016 to March 2017. Newborns with a gestational age of 35 weeks or less at birth and a birth weight of 1500 gm or less admitted at SCABU in BIRDEM General Hospital were the study subjects. The percentage of newborns with ROP were 30.0% (27) amongst screened infants (n=90), where 81.5% (22) were among VLBW and 18.5% (5) were among ELBW infants. Out of them 22.2% (6) had stage I, 37% (10) at stage II, 29.6% (8) at stage III and 11.1% (3) infants had Aggressive Posterior ROP (APROP). It was also found that other than the common causes of developing ROP, frequent blood transfusion and use of mechanical ventilator may be potential risk factors for developing ROP. Comparable rate of ROP was found between the SCABU of BIRDEM to the other Neonatal care units in Bangladesh. Factors other than prematurity and oxygen supplementation were found to play a role in the development of ROP i.e. blood transfusion and mechanical ventilation. Hence ROP screening should be a part of the routine service for premature babies and the threshold for screening should be lowered.