João Borges Fortes Filho¹* and Marcia Beatriz Tartarella²

¹Associate Professor of the Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA) and Medical School, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Master and PhD in Ophthalmology from the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Post-doctorate in Ophthalmology from UNIFESP, Head of the Retinopathy of Prematurity Sector of the Department of Ophthalmology of the Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, UFRGS, Porto Alegre RS, Brazil
²PhD in Ophthalmology from the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) and Department of Ophthalmology Centro Integrado de Oftalmologia Tartarella, São Paulo SP, Brazil

*Corresponding Author: João Borges Fortes Filho, Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA) and Medical School, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre RS, Brazil.

Received: April 29, 2025; Published: May 14, 2025

Abstract

Latin America is waking up to the need to prevent Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). After a period in which the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) remained high in most Latin American countries [1], many published scientific studies have now shown a significant decrease in the incidence of blindness caused by ROP in the region [2]. Several factors have contributed significantly to both the increase in the number of patients affected by the disease in countries in this region in previous years and to the current situation, when a considerable reduction in the incidence of the disease can be observed in Latin America.

References

1. Gilbert C. “Retinopathy of prematurity: A global perspective of the epidemics, population of babies at risk and implications for control”. Early Human Development 84 (2008): 77-82.
2. Carrion JZ., et al. “Prevalence of retinopathy of prematurity in Latin America”. Clinical Ophthalmology 5 (2011): 1687-1695.
3. Fortes Filho JB., et al. “Results of a program for the prevention of blindness caused by retinopathy of prematurity in southern Brazil”. Journal of Pediatrics (Rio J)3 (2007): 209-216.
4. Fortes Filho JB., et al. “Incidence and risk factors for retinopathy of prematurity in very low and in extremely low birth weight infants in a unit-based approach in southern Brazil”. Eye1 (2009): 25-30.
5. Zin A., et al. “Brazilian guidelines proposal for screening and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)”. Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia5 (2007): 875-883.
6. “Multicenter trial of cryotherapy for retinopathy of prematurity. Preliminary results. Cryotherapy for Retinopathy of Prematurity Cooperative Group”. Archives of Ophthalmology4 (1988): 471-479.
7. Early Treatment for Retinopathy of Prematurity Cooperative Group. “Revised indications for the treatment of retinopathy of prematurity. results of the early treatment for retinopathy of prematurity randomized trial”. Archives of Ophthalmology (2003).
8. Fortes Filho JB., et al. “The influence of gestational age on the dynamic behavior of other risk factors associated with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)”. Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology 248 (2010): 893-900.

Citation

Citation: João Borges Fortes Filho and Marcia Beatriz Tartarella. “Latin America is Waking Up to the Prevention of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)".Acta Scientific Ophthalmology 8.6 (2025): 09-10.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2025 João Borges Fortes Filho and Marcia Beatriz Tartarella. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.