The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
2013 , Vol 55 , Num 3
Poor Postnatal Weight Gain Predicts Stage 3+ Retinopathy of Prematurity in Very Low Birth Weight Infants
1Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, and 2Department of Ophthalmology, Başkent University Faculty of
Medicine, Ankara, Turkey. E-mail: denizanuk@yahoo.com
Multiple systemic risk factors are associated with retinopathy of prematurity
(ROP). We analyzed the role of low weight gain (WG) to predict the
development of stage 3+ ROP among preterm infants. This study included
126 newborns with birth weight ≤1500 g and gestational age <32 weeks.
Preterm newborn infants were divided into two groups according to severity
of ROP as: preterm infants without ROP or mild ROP (Group 1) and preterm
infants with stage 3+ ROP (Group 2). WG and WG proportion were measured
at completed 4 and 6 weeks of life. The patients under the cut-off point
according to receiver operating characteristic curve were classified as low
WG patients. WG and WG proportion were significantly lower in Group 2
than in Group 1 at the 4th and 6th weeks of life. We concluded that low
WG and WG proportion at the 4th and 6th weeks of life were predictive
for the development of stage 3+ ROP. Preterm babies with low birth weight
and low WG should be followed closely for severe ROP.
Keywords :
low weight gain, retinopathy of prematurity, weight gain proportion