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. 2019 Mar;39(3):393-400.
doi: 10.1038/s41372-018-0274-9. Epub 2018 Nov 20.

Early red cell transfusion is associated with development of severe retinopathy of prematurity

Christopher Lust  1 , Zachary Vesoulis  2 , Ronald Jackups Jr  3 , Steve Liao  2 , Rakesh Rao  2 , Amit M Mathur  4
Affiliations

Early red cell transfusion is associated with development of severe retinopathy of prematurity

Christopher Lust et al. J Perinatol. 2019 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the association between early (within 10 d) pRBC transfusion and the development of severe ROP.

Study design and methods: This was a single-center retrospective study. Inclusion criteria were preterm infants born ≤32 weeks gestation or weighing ≤1500 g. Severe ROP was defined as infants requiring retinal laser ablation or bevacizumab injection. Logistic regression was used to identify the association between transfusions and severe ROP.

Results: A total of 1635 infants were included in the final analysis. The severe ROP incidence was 8% (126/1635). Ninety-one percent (115/126) of infants who developed severe ROP received a pRBC transfusion in the first 10 d. Early transfusion was associated with severe ROP; adjusted odds ratio of 3.8 (95% CI: 1.8-8.1).

Conclusion: pRBC transfusions in the first 10 days of life are associated with an almost four-fold increased risk of severe ROP, independent of gestational age at birth or bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) status.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Histogram displaying the number of transfusions given on each respective postnatal day. Note that 31% of all transfusions occurred on or before postnatal day 10
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Patient flow char diagram
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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