ROP rate increases as more infants survive pre-term births

This national prospective, population-based study evaluated all Swedish infants born before 27 weeks' gestation between 2004 and 2007. During the study, 506 of 707 infants survived until the first eye examination. Of these, 72.7 percent had retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), including 37.9 percent with mild cases and 34.8 percent whose condition was severe - higher rates than in previously reported national cohorts. Gestational age was more closely associated with ROP development than was birth weight. The risk of ROP declined by 50 percent for each week increase in gestational age at birth.