Retinopathy of prematurity: the continuing threat to vision in preterm infants. Dutch survey from 1986 to 1994

From January 1st 1986 until January 1st 1994, 82 infants were registered in The Netherlands as partially sighted or blind due to retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Compared with the previous Dutch survey (1975-1987) an increasing number of registered infants had been screened for ROP during their initial hospitalization (95.1% vs. 54.1%) and had ophthalmic treatment in the acute stages of the disease (43.9% vs. 24.5%). Nevertheless, an increase in the annual incidence of partial sight or blindness due to ROP from 4.2/100,000 live births (1975-1987) to 5.1/100,000 live births (1986-1994) was found. This increase seemed to be associated with a higher number of surviving premature infants of less than 28 weeks gestational age.