Role of fetal hemoglobin in the development and progression of retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants

Author(s): Nishi Prasad (corresponding author) [1]; Aditi Dubey [1]; Kavita Kumar [1]; Jyotsna Shrivastava [2] Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a vascular disease affecting primarily the premature retina, which can [...]
Purpose: The objective of this study was to find the association between fetal hemoglobin (HbF) concentration and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in preterm infants. Methods: In this observational, prospective, longitudinal study, a total of 410 preterm infants with Results: A total of 410 preterm infants were included, out of which 110 infants had ROP (26.8%). Infants with ROP had significantly lower percentage of HbF with gestational age groups and birth weight groups, compared to infants without ROP. Higher percentage of HbF was associated with a lower prevalence of ROP. Higher concentration of HbF was found in the ROP infants who regressed spontaneously without treatment and less concentration was found in those who progressed to a severe disease and those who required treatment. The predictive ability of HbF (%) was 0.976 for ROP. Conclusion: Low fraction of HbF was found to be significantly associated with the development and progression of ROP. Keywords: Fetal hemoglobin, preterm infants, protective, retinopathy of prematurity