Incidence and risk factors of retinopathy of prematurity in an Italian cohort of preterm infants (original) (raw)

Objective Non-negligible differences in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and its risk factors between different neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) are reported. Our aim was to assess the incidence and risk factors for ROP development in a large cohort of very preterm infants who were assisted in two Italian NICUs. Methods Preterm infants with gestational age between 23 + 0 and 29 + 6 weeks were stratified into subgroups of infants who developed ROP and those who did not; their clinical characteristics were compared with univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Results We studied a total of 178 infants of whom 67 (38%) developed ROP (stage 1: n = 12; stage 2: n = 41; stage 3: n = 14). Regression analysis demonstrated that maternal milk (OR 0.979, 95% Cl 0.961–0.998) decreased the risk of developing ROP, while intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) (OR 2.055, 95% Cl 1.120–3.772) increased it. Moreover, maternal milk was found to decrease (OR 0.981, 95% Cl 0.964–0.99...