Retinopathy of Prematurity: How to Prevent the Third Epidemics in Developing Countries
Rajvardhan Azad, Clare Gilbert, Anil Babanrao Gangwe, Peiquan Zhao, Wei‐Chi Wu, Puja Sarbajna, Anand Vinekar
Abstract
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is vasoproliferative disease affecting preterm infants and is a leading cause of avoidable childhood blindness worldwide. The world is currently experiencing the third epidemic of ROP, where majority of the cases are from middle-income countries. Over 40% of the world's premature infants were born in India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Indonesia. Together with other neighboring nations, this region has unique challenges in ROP management. Key aspects of the challenges including heavier and more mature infants developing severe ROP. Current strategies include adoption of national screening guidelines, telemedicine, integrating vision rehabilitation and software innovations in the form of artificial intelligence. This review overviews some of these aspects.