title: Retinopathy of prematurity: incidence and severity in Hawaii.
abstract: Because survival of low birth-weight infants requiring intensive care has improved recently, particularly since the advent of exogenous surfactant therapy, we reviewed our experience at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children (KMCWC) from 1989 to 1991 to determine if the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a serious long-term complication, had also increased. During this 3-year period, threshold disease, the ROP stage in which cryosurgery is recommended, occurred only in infants < or = 1000 grams. Seventy-four infants < or = 1000 grams were diagnosed with ROP of any stage. Sixteen eyes (9 infants) reached threshold; 14 were treated with cryosurgery. Six of these eyes have useful vision on follow up; 8 do not. Exogenous surfactant therapy had no significant effect on ROP incidence or severity in our series. Although ROP incidence did not increase during this review period, it remains a serious problem in high-risk premature infants in our Newborn Intensive Care Unit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, Honolulu, HI 96826.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Drouilhet
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pelke
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sroat
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ing
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kokame
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Easa
mesh_terms: D003452:Cryosurgery; D006254:Hawaii / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D012178:Retinopathy of Prematurity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies