Tests of screening criteria for retinopathy of prematurity

Retinopathy of prematurity is a disease of the eye, i.e. the retinal blood vessels, which occurs exclusively in premature infants. The level of blindness in one country depends on the level of development of neonatal care and the opportunities to implement screening. The aim of this study was to examine the possibilities of changing screening criteria, provided that not a single child was left out from the survey. A two-year prospective study, which was carried out in the period from January 1st 2007 to December 31st 2008, included 191 premature infants who were treated at the Institute for Child and Youth Healthcare of Vojvodina. Different inclusion criteria regarding body mass and gestational age were applied for screening retinopathy of prematurity and we assessed the coverage of the sample if certain screening criteria were applied. According to the results of the research, when the applied screening criterion was 37/2000, there was not a single case of a blind, prematurely born baby. Great migrations of population as well as big differences in characteristics of premature infants together with underlying multi-factor diseases besides retinopathy of prematurity send a warning signal to be very cautious. Although this study has given ground to shift the limits of screening, we will adhere to broad screening criteria.