ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Minerva Pediatrics 2023 Sep 28

DOI: 10.23736/S2724-5276.23.07336-6

Copyright © 2023 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Thrombocytopenia requiring platelet transfusions is predictive of retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants

Carina RIBEIRO ¹, Gustavo ROCHA ² ✉, Filipa FLÔR-DE-LIMA ^{1, 2}, Cristina FERRERAS ², Rita MOITA ^{1, 2}, Renato SILVA ^{3, 4}, Inês AZEVEDO ^{1, 5, 6}

¹ Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; ² Department of Neonatology, São João University Hospital Center, Porto, Portugal; ³ Department of Ophthalmology, São João University Hospital Center, Porto, Portugal; ⁴ Department of Surgery and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; ⁵ Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; ⁶ EPI Unit, Instituto de Saúde Pública, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that some hematological parameters and ratios provided by blood count collected on the first day of life may be predictors for the development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). The aims of this study were to assess whether hematological parameters and ratios in blood count collected on the first day of life are associated with ROP.
METHODS: Retrospective data collection from electronic clinical files of inborn preterm infants with a gestational age of less than 30 weeks delivered from January 2008 to December 2022, in a level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). We collected detailed clinical and demographic data on the mother, pregnancy, mode of delivery, resuscitation, in-hospital neonatal morbidity, pathological examination of the placenta, and hematological parameters and ratios provided by blood count collected on the first day of life. We compared neonates with or without ROP and performed a subgroup analysis on patients with ROP≥2.
RESULTS: We included 140 preterm infants with ophthalmic examination; 81(57.9%) developed ROP. The need for platelet transfusions (OR=5.28; 95% CI: 1.31-21.21; P=0.019) and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) (OR=5.12; 95% CI: 1.14-22.98; P=0.033) were independent risk factors for ROP. In the multivariate analysis, no associations were found between any of the hematological parameters or ratios studied and ROP.
CONCLUSIONS: In our study, hematological parameters and ratios on the first day of life were not associated with the development of ROP. However, thrombocytopenia that required platelet transfusions was associated with ROP development and severity.

KEY WORDS: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia; Platelet transfusion; Retinopathy of prematurity; Thrombocytopenia