title: [Serum IGF-I levels in retinopathy of prematurity. New indications for ROP screening].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the IGF-I serum levels in premature infants with the objective of being able to use these levels as an indicator of the need for exploration in a screening program for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a comparative study in which IGF-I levels were measured in every infants' serum during the first exploration in the 4 to 6 postnatal weeks. The degree of ROP and a variety of morbidity factors were evaluated, including the presence of intraventricular haemorrhage, sepsis, need for blood transfusion and the number of days of mechanical ventilation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average IGF-I values during the first 4 to 6 postnatal weeks were lowest in the ROP cases (10.75 microg/L SD 16.053) while the NO-ROP cases yielded higher values (29.75 microg/L, SD 13.022). The Mann-Whitney U test showed a value of P for the IGF-I values of 0.004, indicating significant differences between the groups with or without ROP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The low IGF-I serum levels in ROP infants in comparison with the NO-ROP cases, suggest that this marker could be used as an indicator in the screening for ROP.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Oftalmología, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Córdoba.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Villegas Becerril
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fernández Molina
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gallardo Galera
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000032:analysis*; D008403:Mass Screening; D012178:Retinopathy of Prematurity / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I