Abstract
Introduction: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is the primary cause of blindness in infancy in industrialized countries. There is currently no effective method for the prediction or early diagnosis of the disease.
Objective: To test the effectiveness of transocular Doppler measurement of blood flow in the central retinal artery as a method of screening for ROP.
Materials and methods: A prospective ultrasonographic study was conducted on 38 premature infants with birth weight less than 1500 g and/or born at 32 weeks of gestation or less. Transocular Doppler measurements of blood flow in the central retinal artery were performed on all subjects at weekly intervals from birth to 40 weeks corrected gestational age. Mean readings were calculated for both eyes of each subject.
Results: A total of 13 (34%) of subjects developed some form of ROP, as determined by ophthalmic examination. All of those scored significantly lower (p< 0.05) in the following: birth weight (mean 1127 g vs 1492 g), length (mean 36.77 cm vs 39.49 cm), cranial circumference (26.15 cm vs 28.36 cm) and gestational age at birth (29.4 weeks vs 30.8 wk). Risk factors that were significantly associated with ROP included bronchopulmonary dysplasia, treatment with erythropoietin, and sepsis (p< 0.05). Mean values of the Doppler measurements showed no statistically significant differences in blood flow in the central retinal artery between subjects with or without ROP, as a function of either corrected gestational age or age post-partum in weeks. Neither were any differences in blood flow recorded for the onset of 'plus disease'.
Conclusion: Doppler ultrasonography of the central artery of the retina is not an effective method for the early diagnosis of retinopathy of prematurity.