Retinopathy of premature
What is it?
is a devastating disease that can seriously affect up to 10% of premature birth babies and / or low weight
What consequences do you have?
If it is not diagnosed and treated on time, it has as a direct consequence the irreversible blindness.
Do you have treatment?
The good news is that premature retinopathy is treatable with excellent results up to 100% of patients who are diagnosed and treated in a timely manner offering a prognosis and quality of life equal to that of any child.
Who are at risk of suffering from it?
Babies who are at risk are those born with a weight less than 1800 gray and / or less than 35 weeks of gestation.
When should you review?
The obligatory moment of review is between week 4 and 6 of born. If the conditions are meant by the specialist doctor can go to the beard and to be discharged at a timely time, he goes to normal consultation in Office.
Who should review it?
An ophthalmologist specialized in retina or pediatric ophthalmology with experience and skill in premature retinopathy to achieve an adequate diagnosis.
Who treats it?
If the doctor who makes the diagnosis has the skill and infrastructure to treat it, so it will; If it will not refer with that subspecialist.
When and how is it?
depends on the stage of the disease in which each case is found.
The gold standard is the treatment with laser coagulation photo and by indirect ophthalmoscopy; It is done in operating room; It is a quick, safe procedure with great possibilities of success in expert hands.
The critical thing to make a timely diagnosis is that sometimes the disease is so serious that it advances of stages susceptible to laser treatment to intractable stages at 72h
What stages of the disease are known?
Retinopathy of statistics premature in 5 stages.
Most patients do not evolve at severe stages, but all have a risk, so it is vital to review them
Steps 1 and 2 are monitored every 2 weeks on average.
Stage 3 is treated with laser, with excellent results and a low complication index
Step 4 is susceptible to immediate surgical treatment by a doctor with special skill and experience in these cases.
Step 5 is out of treatment.
What did you predict?
The encouraging premature retinopathy is that with timely treatment the prognosis is excellent.
