WEAK ASSOCIATION BETWEEN RETINOPATHY OF PREMATURITY AND NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS IN CHILDHOOD

An attempt was made to elucidate the association between retinopathy o f prematurity (ROP) and neurological disorders in infants of very low birth weight. In this retrospective study, 1081 Japanese children weig hing less than 1500 g at birth were classified into four subgroups acc ording to birth weight. In each subgroup, the association among cerebr al palsy (CP) or mental retardation (MR) and ROP, treated ROP, and cic atricial ROP was analyzed statistically. In the population as a whole, CP and MR were positively associated with ROP. However, in the birth- weight subgroup analysis, no significant association was found. We can conclude that there is a weak association between ROP and CP or MR. ( C) 1998 Japanese Ophthalmological Society.