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Purpose Methods Results Conclusion To assess the predictive performance of DIGIROP‐v1.0 models in identifying treatment‐requiring ROP among infants undergoing ROP screening at a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit in Greece.Retrospective cohort analysis of 640 consecutive screened preterm infants with gestational age (GA) 240/7 to 306/7 weeks and known ROP outcome in the 2nd Neonatology Department of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2009–2021). The primary outcome was the development of type 1 ROP according to the Early Treatment of ROP criteria or treatment based on the ophthalmologist's judgement. Sensitivity, specificity, area under the curve (AUC) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) and calibration plots for the DIGIROP‐v1.0 models were displayed.The DIGIROP‐Birth‐v1.0 model correctly identified 35/43 treated infants (sensitivity 81.4% [95% CI, 66.6%–91.6%], specificity 61.5% [95% CI, 57.4%–65.4%], AUC 0.82 [95% CI, 0.75–0.90]). During the postnatal weeks 6–14 the sensitivity of the DIGIROP‐Screen‐v1.0 model ranged from 82.6% to 100%. Eleven infants, all with severe comorbidities, that is, congenital malformation(s), syndrome(s), hydrocephalus or history of intestinal surgery, that were treated, were missed by the model, but met criteria for screening according to DIGIROP‐v1.0 models' recommendations, and to our unit's routine standards.The DIGIROP‐v1.0 models resulted in lower sensitivity and higher specificity in this Greek cohort compared with the Swedish development group. Despite higher GA and BW, infants in our cohort had higher incidence of treated ROP than in Sweden, resulting in an under‐estimation of their risk for treatment‐requiring ROP. Further validation of the DIGIROP‐v2.0 models and potential adjusting are recommended to maximize generalizability in populations with different characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate the association of platelet parameters and postnatal weight gain with treatment‐requiring ROP (TR‐ROP). Methods: In this retrospective matched case–control study, infants with TR‐ROP were individually matched, according to gestational age and birth weight, with one or two untreated infants who developed no or spontaneously regressed ROP. Longitudinal data on platelet count (PLT), mean platelet volume (MPV), daily weight and platelet transfusions were collected. Platelet mass index (PMI) and weight standard deviation score (WSDS) were also calculated. Conditional logistic regression analysis was performed to adjust for matching. Results: Fourteen cases, presenting type I ROP, and 25 matched controls were included. The odds of developing TR‐ROP decreased as PLT increased during 31st week of postmenstrual age (PMA) or during 1st and 2nd week of postnatal age (PNA). The odds of developing TR‐ROP were 16.7 times higher in infants receiving at least one platelet transfusion compared with those who were not transfused. The odds of developing TR‐ROP increased by 31.2% as the mean volume of platelet transfusion per infant increased by 1 ml. The odds of developing TR‐ROP decreased as PMI increased during 1st week PNA, and as weight and WSDS increased during 4th–6th week PNA. Analysis of MPV, number of thrombopenic episodes per infant, number of platelet transfusions per infant and days with WSDS < −2 showed no association with TR‐ROP. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first study ascertaining an association of platelet transfusions with type I ROP. Prospective cohort studies are required to confirm our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim of this review was to compile existing evidence on the role of platelets in the development of severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the available studies and critically discuss the reported data. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted on PubMed from January 2000 to January 2022, and the reference lists of the included studies were screened manually. Results: There were 19 primary studies that fulfilled the eligibility criteria. Experimental research indicated lower platelet count in mice oxygen-induced retinopathy model compared with normoxia controls, while platelet transfusions suppressed neovascularisation. The latter finding was not consistently confirmed in clinical research, where a low platelet count, an increased number of thrombopenic episodes and of platelet transfusions have all been implicated in the development of ROP requiring treatment, either type I or aggressive posterior or both. However, existing studies exhibit significant clinical heterogeneity and present methodological limitations that imperil their reliability and validity. Conclusion: Platelet deficiency has been associated with severe ROP. However, critical thresholds of platelet parameters are still unrecognised. Future research is required to determine whether platelet parameters can be predictive biomarkers for ROP requiring treatment and at what thresholds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As stated by the authors, currently applied screening criteria differ among countries, and a list of these criteria, together with the incidence of overall ROP according to each criterion, are displayed in Table 1 in the columns "Screening guidelines for ROP" and "Incidence of ROP based on screening guideline", respectively. The same misinterpretation might arise in Figures 1 and 2 [[1]] that present the incidence of ROP by screening guideline upper limit of GA and BW, respectively. Some of the thresholds mentioned are very narrow, in specific: gestational age (GA) <=27 weeks and/or birth weight (BW) <=750 g in the study of Borroni et al. [[2]] in Italy and GA 22-27 weeks in the study of Boland et al. [[3]] in Australia. [Extracted from the article]