Massive pulmonary hemorrhage and severe retinopathy of prematurity in very low birth weight infants

Lee NY, Lee HY, Park SH, Sung IK, Youn YA. Massive pulmonary hemorrhage and severe retinopathy of prematurity in very low birth weight infants. Turk J Pediatr 2017; 59: 636-641. To examine several clinical factors for association with the development of greater than stage 2 of severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and those who required laser treatment in very low birth weight infants (VLBWI). Between Dec 2013 and Jan 2015, the clinical data of 191 VLBWI admitted, were retrospectively analyzed for ROP. Of a total 191 VLBWI, 18.8% (62/191) infants had severe ROP and 5.8% (11/191) neonates had laser treatment for progressive ROP. ROP neonates were significantly lower gestational age and had higher incidence of morbidities. Among the VLBWI with ROP (n=62), severe ROP group also had significantly lower birth weight and higher incidence of hospital morbidities. Massive pulmonary hemorrhage was consistently associated with severe ROP in our logistic regression analysis. Severe ROP group was significantly related to increased hospital morbidities and mortality. Massive pulmonary hemorrhage may pose to the development of severe ROP.