Neonatology and Perinatology

Biography

Estera Decean has completed her Neonatology training in 2013 at the Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Cluj-Napoca Romania. She is working as a neonatologist at the level III maternity of the County Emergency Hospital in Sibiu.

Abstract

Introduction: The leading cause of blindness in children, in developed and developing countries, is retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), characterized by an abnormal proliferation of blood vessels in the retina. The main risk factors are prematurity, low birth weight, oxygen exposure and neonatal illness severity. The study aimed to identify the major risk factors for stage 3 and 3 plus ROP in the premature infants admitted in the NICU of the Clinical County Emergency Hospital in Sibiu during the last 10 years.

Method: We evaluated the ophthalmological screening for ROP results between 2009 and 2018and searched for severe ROP cases. We paired each case with a control case with identical GA and similar birth weight (±100 g) and compared them in order to find specific risk factors. The statistical analysis of demographic characteristics and perinatal pathology was performed using SPSS 10.0 for Windows; p was considered statistically significant at values <0.05.

Results: We identified 9 cases of severe ROP with gestational ages (GA) from 23 to 29 weeks, meaning an incidence of 2.81%, since 320 infants with GA < 30 weeks were admitted in our unit during the study period. Although the duration of mechanical ventilation, respiratory support and oxygen therapy were longer in preterm infants with severe ROP compared to those without severe ROP matched for GA and birth weight, and there were notable differences regarding the Apgar score and the number of transfusions, the single statistically significant correlation that was found was with chronic lung disease (p=0.014, OR 3.14).