title: Fulminate retinopathy of prematurity - clinical characteristics and laser outcome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyse the clinical characteristics and treatment outcome of zone 1 Fulminate type of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) and compare it to Conventional ROP.
  
  
  METHODS
  Preterm infants from two neonatal intensive care units (NICU) born between July 2002 and November 2003 were screened for ROP. Cases with Conventional ROP were classified according to the International Classification of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ICROP) while that of Fulminate ROP according to Shapiro's classification. Threshold disease was kept the cut off for treatment for Conventional ROP and stage 3A for Fulminate ROP.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 54 cases that had treatable ROP, 36 (66.67%) had Fulminate type. The mean gestational age and birth weight was higher in Fulminate ROP compared to Conventional disease (31.75 weeks and 1554 gms vs 31 weeks 1387 gms) whereas the mean postnatal age at laser was lower (4.62 weeks vs 6.3 weeks). The average number of laser spots given was 3036.6 for Fulminate disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fulminate ROP had an atypical morphology which was difficult to classify according to ICROP classification and we would like to lay stress upon the importance of screening of premature infants from the age of 4 weeks and to start treatment immediately once Fulminate ROP has been diagnosed.
authors.affiliation: Vitreo-Retinal Services, Aravind Eye Hospital & Postgraduate Institute of Ophthalmology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. drshahpk@vsnl.net
authors.forename: Parag K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Narendran
authors.forename: V R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Saravanan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raghuram
authors.forename: Abhijit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chattopadhyay
authors.forename: Maithreyi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kashyap
authors.forename: Rodney J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Vijay
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Raghuraman
authors.forename: Virna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Shah
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D053685:Laser Therapy; D012178:Retinopathy of Prematurity / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome