The Effect of Oral Vitamin A in the Prevention of Retinopathy of Prematurity in Premature Infants with Low Birth Weight

Document Type : original article

Authors

1 Behavioral disease research center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.

2 Neonatal Department, Faculty of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.

3 Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.

4 Student Research Committee, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is one of the most common complications in premature babies, whose severe disease can have a long-term effect on the visual performance of babies. In some studies, it has been shown that the administration of vitamin A may be effective in these infants; however, sufficient studies have not been conducted in this field. This randomized clinical trial aimed at investigating the effect of oral vitamin A in the prevention of ROP among premature infants with low birth weight, admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit of Fatemiyeh Hospital.
Methods: In this clinical trial, 66 premature babies with a gestational age of less than 34 weeks who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit due to prematurity and respiratory distress were included. The patients were randomly divided into two groups and one group received 3000 units of oral vitamin A daily for 28 days or until discharge, in addition to the usual daily care. In the control group, only usual care was given. Stages of ROP were evaluated according to the International Classification of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ICROP). The rates of Necrotizing Entero-Colitis (NEC), Broncho-Pulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) and Intraventricular Hemorrhage (IVH) were investigated in both groups.
Results: Both groups had no statistically significant differences in terms of basic variables. No side effects were observed in the intervention group. The rates of Necrotizing Entero-Colitis (NEC), Broncho-Pulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) and Intraventricular Hemorrhage (IVH) were lower in the intervention group, but did not show a statistically significant difference with the control group. The incidence rate of ROP was found to be 43.4% in the intervention group and 59.4% in the control group (P=0.172). Among the 14 infants of the intervention group, where retinopathy of prematurity occurred, 7 patients had grades II and III, while 17 cases (89.5%) of the 19 affected infants had grades II and III in the control group (P=0.019).
Conclusion: Our findings revealed that the administration of oral vitamin A in premature infants with low weight can be an effective therapeutic strategy to reduce the risk of retinopathy.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Pediatric Perspectives
Volume 12, Issue 7
July 2024
Pages 18902-18911

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