Is patent ductus arteriosus a risk factor for retinopathy of prematurity?

To evaluate whether the presence of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) increases the rate of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) or its severity. A consecutive cohort of premature infants diagnosed with PDA by echocardiography born in the Miguel Servet University Hospital from January 2006 to May 2009 was included in the study. We compared the rate and severity of ROP in this group of patients with a control group of randomly-chosen premature infants with a normal echocardiography. We evaluate a total of 131 premature infants (79 with PDA and 52 without PDA). We found a statistically significant association between the presence of PDA and the rate of ROP (p=0.03) (OR=2.41; 95% CI 1.08-5.38). However, using a multiple regression model adjusted for the gestational age (GA), a significant reverse association was found between ROP and GA (β= -0.322; p=0.003), but there was no statistically significant correlation between ROP and PDA (p=0.073 for rate of ROP and a p=0.20 for stage of ROP). The presence of PDA does not increase the risk of developing ROP or its severity, once considered the effect of gestational age in PDA.