title: Swedish national register for retinopathy of prematurity (SWEDROP) and the evaluation of screening in Sweden.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate screening for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in Sweden and to investigate possible modifications of the present screening guidelines.
  
  
  METHODS
  Infants in Sweden with a gestational age (GA) of 31 weeks + 6 days or less are screened for ROP. Data from the Swedish national register for ROP (SWEDROP) during 2008 and 2009 were extracted and compared with a national perinatal quality register.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In SWEDROP, there were 1791 infants born before a GA of 32 weeks from January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2009. Another 70 infants were registered in the perinatal quality register but not in SWEDROP (dropout rate, 3.8% [70 of 1861 infants]). Seven infants died before termination of screening. In the final study cohort (1784 infants), 15.6% had mild ROP and 8.5% had severe ROP. Treatment was performed in 4.4% of the infants, none of whom had a GA at birth of more than 28 weeks. Nine infants with a GA of more than 28 weeks at birth developed stage 3 ROP, which regressed spontaneously. The total number of examinations was 9286 (964 in infants with a GA of 31 weeks), and the mean (range) number of examinations of each infant was 5.2 (1-30).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SWEDROP, a quality register for ROP, has a national coverage (ie, participation) of 96%. Data from 2008 to 2009 show that it seems possible to reduce the upper limit for screening in Sweden by 1 week, including only infants with a GA of 30 weeks + 6 days or less. However, such a change should be combined with a strong recommendation to neonatologists to refer also severely ill and more "mature" infants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience/Ophthalmology, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden. gerd.holmstrom@neuro.uu.se
authors.forename: Gerd E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Holmström
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hellström
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Jakobsson
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lundgren
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tornqvist
authors.forename: Agneta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wallin
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D008297:Male; D015997:Neonatal Screening / Q000379:methods*; D012042:Registries; D012178:Retinopathy of Prematurity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D015351:Vision Screening / Q000379:methods*