Early red cell transfusion is associated with development of severe retinopathy of prematurity

Objectiveto evaluate the association between early (within 10 d) prbc transfusion and the development of severe rop.study design and methodsthis was a single-center retrospective study. inclusion criteria were preterm infants born ≤32 weeks gestation or weighing ≤1500 g. severe rop was defined as infants requiring retinal laser ablation or bevacizumab injection. logistic regression was used to identify the association between transfusions and severe rop.resultsa total of 1635 infants were included in the final analysis. the severe rop incidence was 8% (126/1635). ninety-one percent (115/126) of infants who developed severe rop received a prbc transfusion in the first 10 d. early transfusion was associated with severe rop; adjusted odds ratio of 3.8 (95% ci: 1.8−8.1).conclusionprbc transfusions in the first 10 days of life are associated with an almost four-fold increased risk of severe rop, independent of gestational age at birth or bronchopulmonary dysplasia (bpd) status.