Keeping an eye on asthma

This is a photo of a premature baby in the NICU.

Uncontrolled asthma during pregnancy could increase the likelihood of a blinding eye disease in babies born prematurely. That’s according to the new study, “The Effect of Maternal Asthma on Retinopathy of Prematurity.” A paper on the study was presented at the 2024 American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) 42nd Annual Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden.

The joint research, conducted by the University of Colorado Department of Ophthalmology and Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora, studied 2,132 newborns who spent time in neonatal intensive care units and were screened for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) between January 2006 and June 2023. The results suggested a hypoxic prenatal environment may impact the development and severity of ROP.

“Premature infants of mothers with asthma are more likely to have more advanced [ROP] and are more likely to require treatment,” researchers wrote in the paper. “These observations remained significant when controlling for the known risk factors of ROP, including gestational age and birth weight. 

The university and the hospital are already collaborating to better manage young pediatric patients with ROP. They recently introduced a new tracking system for use in preterm infants. Integrated with the Epic electronic health record (EHR) system, this tracker represents an enhancement in the proactive follow-up care for infants at risk of ROP. Approximately 14,000 infants in the U.S. are diagnosed with ROP annually.

In the observational study, researchers looked at five stages of ROP, from mild retinopathy (stage 1) to severe retinopathy (stage 5). The research concluded that most premature babies at stage 1 and 2 will recover without intervention and not have lingering vision problems. However, babies who were determined to be at a stage 5 will likely have a detached retina accompanied by vision loss or blindness.

Prematurity was defined by birth weight and gestational age. Less research was devoted to specific aspects of the mother’s health and wellness, according to the study’s lead researcher, Zafar Gill, MD, an ophthalmologist with Children’s Hospital Colorado . 

Researchers said the study was somewhat limited by the number of health care centers included, it’s retrospective nature and insufficient data on factors such as asthma severity and hypoxia during pregnancy.

 “We suggest that maternal asthma influences the oxygen environment in utero and is an independent risk factor for the development of [ROP],” investigators wrote. “While this study represents a first step towards examining the relationship between asthma and [retinopathy of prematurity], further studies are needed to better understand how and why it influences the disease.”

 

More in Asthma
Page 1 of 15
Next Page