Assessment of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) in Semi Urban Population: Risk Factors and Clinical Findings

The present study aims to analyse various possible risk factors in the development of Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and to determine the frequency of occurrence of ROP in study population. This prospective, observational study one year study was done from January 2016 to November 2016, at the department of ophthalmology, Government Thanjavur Medical College, Thanjavur with 102 babies the inclusion criteria were subjected to complete fundus examination with indirect ophthalmoscope and followed up till 45 week of postconceptionl age. In the current study, ROP occurred more often in male babies (57.8%), but the difference from female babies (42.1%) was not statistically significant. Thus, the results suggest that there is no definite gender associated risk factors in the development of ROP. In India, the leading cause of preventable childhood blindness is ROP. The challenge is to simply identify the individuals that would benefit from vision saving therapy. Timely screening and early management is the key for the management of ROP.