Objective To observe the clinical features of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in multiple fetuses.Methods Retrospective clinical study. From December 2009 to June 2018, 758 premature or low-weight multiple fetuses (multiple fetuses group) and 2363 simultaneous single fetuses (single fetuses group) who were admitted to the Department of Ophthalmology and Neonatal Department of Dongguan People’s Hospital and underwent ROP screening were included in the study. Among the multiple pregnancy group, there were 735 twins and 23 triplets; 441 males and 317 females. The mean gestational age was 32.22±2.14 weeks, and the mean body weight was 1.69±0.43 kg. There were 202 of natural births and 556 of cesarean sections. A total of 750 cases have a history of oxygen. Among the singleton group, 1421 were males and 942 were females. The mean gestational age was 32.06±2.52 weeks, and the mean body weight was 1.70±0.46 kg. There were 1146 of natural births and 1217 of cesarean sections. A total of 2333 cases have a history of oxygen. The detection rate of multiple ROP, gestational age, birth weight, sex composition ratio, mode of birth, time of first ROP diagnosis, and severity of ROP were observed. χ² test was used to compare the rate between groups, and t test was used to compare the mean between groups.Results Among the multiple pregnancy group, there were 68 cases (8.97%) of ROP. Among them, 64 twins (8.71%, 64/735), 4 triplets (17.39%, 4/23). Among the singleton group, there were 187 cases (7.91%) of ROP. With the increase of fetal number, the detection rate of ROP increased, but there was no significant difference (χ²=3.097, P=0.213). There was no significant difference in the detection rate of ROP between multiple fetuses and single fetuses (χ²=0.855, P=0.355). There was no significant difference in sex ratio (χ²=0.069), mode of production (χ²=1.900), birth weight (t=0.139), gestational age (t=－0.478), and time of first ROP diagnosis (t=0.371) between ROP cases of multiple fetuses and single fetuses (P=0.793, 0.168, 0.889, 0.633, 0.371). There was no significant difference in the constituent ratio of severity of ROP lesions between multiple fetuses and single fetuses (χ²=3.003, P=0.223).Conclusion There is no significant difference in ROP incidence, gestational age, birth weight, diagnosis time and severity of ROP between multiple fetuses and single fetuses under the same conditions.

Citation： Chen Shuhui, Zhang Min, Chen Minyu, Ma Pingping. Analysis of the clinical characteristics of retinopathy in multiple premature infants. Chinese Journal of Ocular Fundus Diseases, 2020, 36(2): 131-134. doi: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.1005-1015.2020.02.009 Copy