Rising Incidence of Retinopathy of Prematurity Blindness at Abuja’s Private Hospitals: A Growing Concern

Abstract

Aims: To increase the awareness about retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) blindness in unscreened preterm infants in Abuja”. Presentation of Cases:  Five (5) children who had become blind from ROP and referred to our facility were seen. Three of them were males. The mean gestational age was 30.42.6 weeks (28 – 34 weeks). The median birth weight was 1000g while the interquartile range (IQR) was 700g. All 5 blind children received neonatal care at private hospitals. Discussion: With an average of 2,500 Preterm admissions in the Abuja and it’s rapidly expanding neonatal care and the grossly inadequate ROP screening services, Abuja may likely become the new frontier of ROP blindness in Nigeria. It is very worrisome that all 5 children who were blind form ROP had no ROP screening done. There is an urgent need to increase awareness and establish a comprehensive ROP services for Abuja with special focus on neonatologists especially in private hospitals to help drive the ROP services. Conclusion: ROP remains a leading cause of blindness in children especially in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, ROP services must expand to include private hospitals providing neonatal services in a well-coordinated manner in order to prevent blindness for ROP.