Racial Differences in Retinopathy of Prematurity

To delineate racial differences in the incidence and time course of ROP in a large cohort of premature infants. The secondary analysis of data from the two Postnatal Growth and ROP Studies (G-ROP-1 and G-ROP-2) that were collected in 41 hospitals in North America from 2006 to 2017. According to self-reported maternal race, premature infants were classified into 3 groups: White (N = 5580), Black (N = 3252), and Asian (N = 353). Incidence, severity, and time course of ROP; plus disease; and postnatal weight gain rate were compared among racial groups. Black infants had significantly smaller BW (mean 1035 vs. 1131 vs.1144 grams, P .05), but lower in Black and Asian infants on days 31–40 (P Despite relatively lower GA, BW, and daily-weight-gain, Black preterm infants had lower incidences of ROP and plus disease than White preterm infants. The mechanisms for these differences require further investigation.本研究旨在明确大型早产婴儿队列中早产儿视网膜病变（Retinopathy of Prematurity, ROP）的发病率与病程的种族差异。本研究为两项产后生长与早产儿视网膜病变研究（G-ROP-1与G-ROP-2）数据的二次分析，相关数据于2006年至2017年间在北美41家医院采集获取。根据受试者自我报告的母亲种族信息，受试早产婴儿被分为三组：白人组（N=5580）、黑人组（N=3252）与亚裔组（N=353）。研究比较了不同种族组间早产儿视网膜病变的发病率、严重程度、病程、伴Plus病变（plus disease）情况以及产后体重增长率。黑人婴儿的出生体重（Birth Weight, BW）显著更低，平均体重为1035克，白人组与亚裔组分别为1131克与1144克（P<0.05）；但在出生后31~40天时，黑人与亚裔婴儿的体重增长较慢（原文此处P值未完整标注）。尽管黑人早产婴儿的胎龄（Gestational Age, GA）、出生体重与每日体重增长率均相对更低，但其早产儿视网膜病变与伴Plus病变的发病率仍低于白人早产婴儿。上述种族差异的潜在机制仍有待进一步研究。