title: [The early postnatal weight gain as a predictor of retinopathy of prematurity].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Premature infants are often stressed by the current retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening procedure. Additionally, only < 10 % of the screened infants will develop a ROP stadium requiring laser therapy. Therefore the present screening strategy is unsatisfactory. Furthermore, the current guidelines do not take into account postnatal factors. A new method considering postnatal factors is the weight, insulin-like growth factor, neonatal ROP (WINROP) algorithm. This approach is based on the early postnatal weight gain. The aim of this study was to assign the WINROP-algorithm to a preterm population in Switzerland and to analyze its ability for prediction.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this retrospective study, all preterm infants with a gestational age (GA) < 32 weeks and/or a birth weight (BW) ≤ 1500 g taken care of in the Department of Neonatology at the University Hospital Zurich from January 2003 to December 2008 were included. The weekly postnatal weight gain was analyzed by means of the modified WINROP-algorithm.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Altogether 376 preterm infants were analyzed. In 58 infants a "high-risk" alarm was released, thereof eight preterms developed a severe ROP and four of them needed laser therapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high predictive value of the WINROP-algorithm was confirmed in our population of Swiss preterms. This instrument has the potential to simplify the current ROP screening procedure. Accordingly, the amount of ophthalmoscopies could be reduced significantly.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Neonatologie, UniversitätsSpital Zürich, Schweiz. sarah_flk@hotmail.com
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Flückiger
authors.forename: H U
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Bucher
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hellström
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lövqist
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sturm
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Arri
mesh_terms: D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012178:Retinopathy of Prematurity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology; D015430:Weight Gain