[Serum IGF-I levels in retinopathy of prematurity. New indications for ROP screening].
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.
Villegas Becerril
E
E
Servicio de Oftalmología, Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Córdoba.
Fernández Molina
F
F
González
R
R
Gallardo Galera
J M
JM
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
D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I