The following is a summary of “Validation of a Published Model to Reduce Burden of Retinopathy of Prematurity Screening,” published in the September 2023 issue of Opthalmology by Pruett et al.

The E-ROP study found that premature babies born at or after 27 weeks gestation and weighing over 750g who had no ROP at 37 weeks did not develop treatable ROP. Researchers performed a retrospective study to validate or refute the hypothesis by replicating published data in a larger multi-center cohort.

They conducted a chart review of all infants treated for ROP (February 2004 to April 2022) at 6 medical centers in the USA. The review assessed gestational age, birth weight, and the presence or absence of ROP (37 weeks) gestational age to identify any treated infants who would have been “missed” by these screening criteria.

The results showed 6,729 screened infants, 298 (4.43%) required treatment. Ten infants needing treatment showed initial signs of ROP after 37 weeks gestational age. Only one had a birth weight >750g and a gestational age >27 weeks. This patient had zone 2 stage 3 ROP with pre-plus disease and received treatment due to limited access to care at a distant hospital. The ROP was detected at the first exam after 37 weeks, making her eligible for ongoing follow-up.

They concluded that infants >750g BW and >27 weeks’ GA who had no ROP at 37 weeks did not develop treatable ROP in a 5-times larger cohort, supporting termination of examination.

Source: ajo.com/article/S0002-9394(23)00360-4/fulltext