DOI: 10.14260/jemds/2014/3835 ORIGINAL ARTICLE J of Evolution of Med and Dent Sci/ eISSN- 2278-4802, pISSN- 2278-4748/ Vol. 3/ Issue 62/Nov 17, 2014 Page 13730 PREVALENCE OF RETINOPATHY OF PREMATURITY IN ASIAN INDIAN BABIES FROM A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE Sunayana Hegde 1 , Hilda Nixon 2 , Vinay P. G 3 , Norman Mendonca 4 , Sripathi Kamath 5 HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Sunayana Hegde, Hilda Nixon, Vinay P. G, Norman Mendonca, Sripathi Kamath. “Prevalence of Retinopathy of Prematurity in Asian Indian Babies from a Tertiary Care Centre”. Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences 2014; Vol. 3, Issue 62, November 17; Page: 13730-13735, DOI: 10.14260/jemds/2014/3835 ABSTRACT: PURPOSE: To assess the prevalence of retinopathy of prematurity(ROP) in Asian Indian babies from a tertiary care centre MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective observational case study was conducted in the neonatal care unit of father Muller charitable institutions on all premature babies weighing < 2000 g at birth with gestational age </=32 weeks admitted during the study period. RESULTS: 62 preterm infants were studied. Out of the 62 babies screened , 6 babies(9.68%) developed retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)and 56 babies (90.42%) were found to have normal retinal maturation, out of which one was a male baby and 5 were females . Out of the 6 babies with ROP , stage 1 disease was seen in 4 babies (66.67%)stage 2 disease was seen in 1 baby (16.67%) and stage 3 disease was seen in 1 baby (16.67%).(fig 2) . No babies in our study group were diagnosed with stage 4 or stage 5 disease. 5 babies (83.3%) in our study had proliferative ROP and 1 baby(16.7%) had fulminant ROP. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of ROP in our study was found to be 9.68% and that of treatable ROP was 16.7% . KEYWORDS: retinopathy of prematurity, preterm, prevalence INTRODUCTION: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is emerging as one of the leading causes of visual impairment and childhood blindness in developing countries like India accounting for about 6– 8% of all blind children. ROP is characterized by abnormal fibro vascular proliferation of the immature retina in premature infants leading to tractional retinal detachment in untreated cases causing blindness. 1,2 Recent advances and improved survival of premature and low birth weight babies in neonatal care in developing countries has been accompanied by an increase in the incidence of ROP. Thus, it is imperative to investigate the epidemiology of ROP, aiming to reduce the incidence of ROP-induced visual impairment and blindness. Indian studies till date have shown the incidence of ROP to be around 14 to 41% in preterm infants. 3 The American screening guidelines for ROP suggests that baby’s ≤ 1500 g birth weight or ≤ 32 weeks gestational age must be screened, with heavier babies to be screened on recommendation by the attending neonatologist. 4 However, developing countries may require modification of these screening guidelines owing to inferior neonatal care and poor compliance by the patients. 5 The purpose of our study was to evaluate the incidence of ROP in babies weighing < 2000g in a peripheral tertiary care neonatal unit of India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective observational case study was conducted in the neonatal care unit of father Muller charitable institutions. Ethical Committee clearance from the institution was obtained.