Arterial catheters and retinopathy of prematurity risk: need for a multicenter controlled trial

To the Editor.— During the period from January 1, 1987, to December 31, 1992, a total of 891 infants were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), A. Meyer Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florence, Italy. Of these infants, 406 had a gestational age ≤33 weeks, and 273 were very low birth weight (≤1500 g, VLBW). Of them 779 (87.4%) survived. All the survivors were examined regularly by two experienced ophthalmologists, starting from the third or fourth postnatal week and then repeatedly at least every 2 weeks until retinal vascularization was completed.