title: Incidence and Risk Factors for Retinopathy of Prematurity in North of Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report the incidence and risk factors for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) among preterm infants referred to Amiralmomenin Eye Hospital, Rasht, Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional retrospective study included all preterm infants with birth weight ≤2500 g and/or gestational age ≤36 weeks who had been referred to our facility for ROP screening over a five year period from September 2005 to September 2010. Possible risk factors and findings related to eye examinations were extracted and analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 310 infants, ROP was diagnosed in 64 (20.6%) of referred preterm infants (95% CI: 17.7%-23.5%); these included stage I in 48%, stage 2 in 29%, and stage 3 or higher disease in 23% of subjects. Mean gestational age (GA) and birth weight (BW) in the ROP-affected infants was 30.18 ± 2.28 weeks and 1,422.8 ± 420.8 g, respectively. Low BW, low GA, oxygen therapy, phototherapy, blood transfusion and apnea were risk factors for ROP. After logistic regression analysis, only low GA and low BW were independently associated with the condition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ROP is a relatively common finding in preterm infants of Guilan Province in the North of Iran. Low BW and low GA were significant risk factors for the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran.
authors.forename: Yousef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Alizadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran.
authors.forename: Marjaneh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zarkesh
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran.
authors.forename: Reza Soltani
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Moghadam
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran.
authors.forename: Bahareh
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Esfandiarpour
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Behboudi
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad-Mehdi
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Karambin
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran.
authors.forename: Abtin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heidarzade
keywords: Incidence; Infant; Premature; Retinopathy of Prematurity; Risk Factors