Association of Cardiovascular Disease with Retinopathy of Prematurity.

Purpose: To determine the associations of presence and types of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) with development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in premature infants undergoing ROP examinations.

Study Design: We performed secondary analyses of data from the multi-center Postnatal Growth and ROP Validation Study (GROP-2). CVD was categorized based on pulmonary blood flow (PBF), systemic blood flow (SBF), pulmonary hypertension (PPHN), or dysrhythmia. Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated from multivariable logistic regression models that included any ROP or severe ROP as outcome variable and any CVD or type of CVD as independent variable, with adjustment of covariates including birth weight (BW), gestational age (GA), and days on supplemental oxygen in the first month of postnatal life.

Result: Among 3980 infants, 528 (13.3%) had CVD (304 had increased PBF, 101 had decreased PBF, and 49 had PPHN), 1643 (40.4%) developed ROP, and 503 (12.6%) developed severe ROP. In multivariable analyses, presence of CVD was not significantly associated with increased risk of any ROP (aOR = 1.15, 95% CI: 0.90-1.46, = .26) or severe ROP (aOR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.72-1.34, = .92). However, there were trends associating CVD resulting in increased PBF with a higher risk of ROP (aOR = 1.32, 95% CI: 0.97-1.80, = .08) and PPHN with a higher risk of severe ROP (aOR = 2.04, 95% CI: 0.96-4.35, = .07). When adjusting only for BW and GA, these associations were significant (aOR = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.09-1.99, and aOR = 2.35, 95% CI: 1.19-4.65, respectively).

Conclusion: CVD with increased PBF likely increases the risk of ROP. PPHN likely increases the risk of severe ROP.