Stanford University Network for Diagnosis of Retinopathy of Prematurity (SUNDROP): five years of screening with telemedicine.
OBJECTIVE
To report the 5-year results of the Stanford University Network for Diagnosis of Retinopathy of Prematurity (SUNDROP) telemedicine initiative.


METHODS
Infants requiring retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening at six neonatal intensive care units from December 1, 2005, to November 30, 2010, were evaluated with remote retinal photography by an ROP specialist. Every infant received outpatient binocular indirect ophthalmoscope examinations until termination criteria were achieved or until treatment. Outcomes were treatment-warranted ROP (TW-ROP, ETROP type 1) and adverse anatomical events.


RESULTS
Five hundred eleven infants (1,022 eyes) were screened. Fifteen infants had TW-ROP and underwent laser photocoagulation. The TW-ROP cohort had significantly lower birth weight and gestational age (both P < .001). No patient progressed to adverse anatomical outcomes and no case of TW-ROP was missed. Tele-medicine had 100% sensitivity, 99.8% specificity, 93.8% positive predictive value, and 100% negative predictive value for detection of TW-ROP.


CONCLUSIONS
Telemedicine demonstrates high diagnostic accuracy for detection of TW-ROP and can complement ROP screening.
Natalia
N
Fijalkowski
Luo Luo
LL
Zheng
Michael T
MT
Henderson
Sean K
SK
Wang
Matthew B
MB
Wallenstein
Theodore
T
Leng
Darius M
DM
Moshfeghi
D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000458:organization & administration; D001724:Birth Weight; D002140:California; D019058:Community Networks / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D017075:Laser Coagulation; D008297:Male; D015997:Neonatal Screening / Q000379:methods*; D009887:Ophthalmoscopy; D010781:Photography; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012178:Retinopathy of Prematurity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods*; D015351:Vision Screening / Q000379:methods*