March 2014 Vol. 2 No.2

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Full Length Research Paper

Screening of Retinopathy of Prematurity in Khartoum City, Sudan, 2011- 2012
 

Mahgoub Saleem* and Nesrin Abdalla MD
 

Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Al Neelain University Khartoum 11111, P. O. Box 10139, Sudan

*Corresponding Author's E-mail: saleem4eyes@gmail.com

Accepted March 24, 2014

Abstract

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a proliferative retinopathy that develops in premature infants due to incomplete vasculogenesis of the retina at the time of birth. It can be mild with no visual defects, or it may become aggressive with new blood vessel formation (neovascularization) and progress to retinal detachment and blindness. The objective was to estimate the incidence of ROP in preterm infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and to identify the risk factors which predispose to ROP. A ROP prospective screening survey was performed enrolling premature infants admitted to Alsiwadi hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Hospital, nursery of Soba and nursery of Alribat hospitals, from November 2011 to September 2012, with a gestational age of 32 weeks or less at birth and a birth weight of 1500 g or less. A total of 60 infants (21males and 39 females) had retinal evaluation by indirect ophthalmoscopy from the fourth postnatal week. Risk factors for ROP were assessed using statistical analysis. Out of the studied 60 infants, 19 infants (31.7%) developed ROP in one or both eyes; of which 17 babies (89%) had severe ROP. Incidence of ROP from all according to hospitals was 68.4% in Soba, 26.3% in Alsiwadi, 5.3% in Alribat. Statistical analysis showed that there was a significant relationship between the occurrence of ROP and stay in hospital more than 15 days (P = 0.012), nasal cannula and nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) as mode of oxygen delivery (P = 0.002). However, an insignificant relationship was found between the occurrence of ROP and gestational age, birth weight, sex, respiratory distress syndrome, patent ductus arteriosus, intraventricular hemorrhage, hyaline membrane disease, apnea, blood transfusions, necrotizing entercolitis, meningitis, consanguinity, and age of the mother (all P > 0.05). Incidence of ROP in our study was the same as most of the other reported studies in developing countries. Our results suggest that ROP is an important emerging cause of preventable childhood blindness in our country.

Keywords: ROP, Neovascularization, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Oxygen delivery