title: Retinopathy of prematurity and brain damage in the very preterm newborn.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explain why very preterm newborns who develop retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) appear to be at increased risk of abnormalities of both brain structure and function.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1,085 children born at <28 weeks' gestation had clinically indicated retinal examinations and had a developmental assessment at 2 years corrected age. Relationships between ROP categories and brain abnormalities were explored using logistic regression models with adjustment for potential confounders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 173 children who had severe ROP, defined as prethreshold ROP (n = 146) or worse (n = 27) were somewhat more likely than their peers without ROP to have brain ultrasound lesions or cerebral palsy. They were approximately twice as likely to have very low Bayley Scales scores. After adjusting for risk factors common to both ROP and brain disorders, infants who developed severe ROP were at increased risk of low Bayley Scales only. Among children with prethreshold ROP, exposure to anesthesia was not associated with low Bayley Scales.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Some but not all of the association of ROP with brain disorders can be explained by common risk factors. Most of the increased risks of very low Bayley Scales associated with ROP are probably not a consequence of exposure to anesthetic agents.
authors.affiliation: Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Elizabeth N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Allred
authors.affiliation: William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Capone
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fraioli
authors.affiliation: Tufts University School of Medicine and Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts; Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Dammann
authors.affiliation: Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Droste
authors.affiliation: Tufts University School of Medicine and Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Duker
authors.affiliation: UMass Memorial Medical Center and University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gise
authors.affiliation: Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuban
authors.affiliation: Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. Electronic address: alan.leviton@childrens.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leviton
authors.affiliation: Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
authors.forename: T Michael
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: O'Shea
authors.affiliation: College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
authors.forename: Nigel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Paneth
authors.affiliation: Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.affiliation: William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trese
authors.affiliation: Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stoessel
authors.affiliation: Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vanderveen
authors.affiliation: Duke Eye Center, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: David K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.affiliation: Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Grey
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Weaver
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D017679:Cryotherapy; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D062071:Infant, Extremely Premature; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012178:Retinopathy of Prematurity / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy; D012307:Risk Factors