title: Incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in the western part of Norway. A population-based retrospective study.
abstract: We have investigated the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) among premature infants with birth weight less than 1500 g in two Norwegian counties during the years 1989-1993. Two hundred and seven out of 244 such infants (84.8%) were examined at the neonatal intensive care unit; 66 of those examined (31.9%) had a birth weight below 1000 g. ROP was found in 21 patients (10.1%), and stage 3 disease was present in 7 (3.4%). No patient had more advanced ROP than stage 3. Assuming that no cases of stage 3 ROP were missed among the total of 244 children, the incidence of stage 3 disease was 2.9%. The frequency of ROP in this study is compared to that of other population-based studies in the Nordic countries, and incidence differences are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: O H
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Haugen
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Markestad
mesh_terms: D017679:Cryotherapy; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D012178:Retinopathy of Prematurity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate