What are the symptoms of retinopathy of prematurity?

Pregnant women should not do things that are harmful to their fetuses after they become pregnant. They should always pay attention to their physical health. Only in this way can they give birth to a healthy baby and avoid premature birth of their children. Some retinal diseases are caused by premature birth. Because the retinal blood vessels of premature babies are not fully developed, this will cause retinal diseases in their babies. So what are the symptoms of retinal diseases?

With the advancement of ROP treatment technology, the prognosis of children who receive early treatment is greatly improved. Reasonable and early fundus examination has become the key to diagnosing and treating the disease. According to the development process of the disease, it is clinically divided into acute active phase, regression phase and scar phase.

1. Acute active phase According to the International Classification of ROP (ICROP), there are three basic concepts for staging the active phase of the disease: locating by region, recording the extent of the lesion by clock hours, and dividing the disease into stages I to V according to the severity of the disease.

(1) Zoning: The retina is divided into three zones. Zone I: The area within the circle with the optic disc as the center and a radius of twice the distance from the optic disc to the fovea as the radius. ROP occurring in this zone is the most severe. Zone II: The area outside Zone I is within a circle with the optic disc as the center and the distance from the optic disc to the nasal ora serrata as the radius. Zone III: The temporal semilunar area outside zone II is the area with the highest incidence of ROP.

(2) Stages: There are 5 stages. Stage I: A flat white subdivision line appears between the vascular area at the posterior pole of the retina and the peripheral avascular area. Stage II: The white dividing line becomes further widened and elevated, forming a ridge-shaped protrusion that is higher than the retinal surface. Stage III: The ridge-shaped protrusions become more obvious and pink in color, indicating that the new blood vessels not only grow into the ridges but also develop onto the ridges. This stage is accompanied by fibrosis and enters the vitreous body. Stage IV: Partial retinal detachment, divided into 2 grades: A and B. IVA is peripheral retinal detachment without involving the macula, and IVB is retinal detachment involving the macula. Retinal detachment is mostly tractional, but it can also be exudative. Stage V: Complete retinal detachment, often in the shape of a funnel, which can be divided into four types: wide funnel, narrow funnel, wide in front and narrow in the back, and narrow in front and wide in the back. During this stage, there is extensive connective tissue proliferation and formation of organized membranes, leading to RLF.

(3) Special lesions:

① Additional lesions (plus): The retinal vessels in the posterior pole appear dilated and twisted, or the anterior iris vessels are highly dilated. Additional lesions are an indication of active ROP and their appearance often indicates a poor prognosis.

②Threshold lesions (threshold ROP): ROP stage III, located in zone I or II, with new blood vessels occupying 5 consecutive clock ranges; or the lesions are not continuous, but cumulatively reach 8 clock ranges, accompanied by plus. This period is the critical period for early treatment.

③ Prethreshold ROP: includes 2 situations. If the lesion is limited to zone I, ROP may be stage I, II, or III. If the lesion is located in zone II, there are three situations: stage II ROP with plus; stage III ROP without plus; stage III ROP with plus, but the new blood vessels occupy less than 5 consecutive clock ranges or discontinuous cumulative 8 clock ranges.

Through this article, I believe that the majority of pregnant women have understood the symptoms of retinopathy of prematurity, so they must reduce the birth rate of premature babies in life. Premature babies will have difficulty breathing and it will be difficult for them to survive. If some breathing difficulties occur, the feeding time should be postponed.