The relationship between premature retinopathy with nutrition

The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and to explore the association between ROP and feeding. This study was designed as a single-center, retrospective, and case-control trial. Premature infants, who were included in this study, were born before the 30th gestational age between the years 2000 and 2016 in Hacettepe University Hospital. The infants were divided into three groups as the control (without ROP), mild ROP and severe ROP groups. Possible risk factors for ROP such as calorie intakes within the first 28 days, drugs used, all medical administrations, daily weight gain, feeding characteristics were compared between the groups. ROP was found in 32 (29.5%) of 108 infants included in this study. Twelve of them (11.1%) had level 1-2 of ROP and 20 (18.5%) had advanced level of ROP (stage 3-4). While preeclampsia (n=19) and gestational diabetes (n=12) were the most common maternal diseases, goiter (n=11), thrombophilia (n=10), infection (n=8), HELLP syndrome (n=6) and other malignant diseases (n=1) were less common clinical situations in mothers of infants. Patent ductus arteriosus (n=44), RDS (n=63), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (n=47) rates were higher in infants with advanced levels of ROP. The first enteral feeding day, full enteral feeding day and total parenteral nutrition duration were significantly higher in infants with level 3-4 ROP than the others. In addition, oral protein, oral lipid uptake, total lipid, total calorie intakes were significantly lower in level 3-4 ROP group compared to the other groups. The 28th-day weight was lower in patients with advanced level of ROP, while the duration of discharge was higher in patients with advanced level of ROP. According to our results, advanced levels of ROP seem to be associated with feeding. Infants with level 3-4 ROP seem to intake lower calorie stay in hospital for longer periods, and daily weight gain seems to be lower. Key words: Retinopathy of prematurity; total parenteral nutrition; weight gain