Maternal diabetes mellitus as an independent risk factor for clinically significant retinopathy of prematurity severity in neonates less than 1500g

BACKGROUND: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a significant morbidity in preterm babies. Multiple risk factors for severe ROP have been extensively studied, however, only a few studies have included maternal diabetes mellitus (MDM) in their assessment. ROP and diabetic retinopathy are both retinal vascular diseases in which there is leakage and/or neovascularization from damaged retinal vessels. Diabetes may affect ROP development; however, there are conflicting results on the association between MDM and ROP. OBJECTIVE: To determine if MDM is an independent risk factor for clinically significant ROP (ROP > Stage II) in neonates weighing less than 1500g. DESIGN/METHOD: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of neonates weighing <1500g who were delivered or transferred into our institution from 2007 through 2017. Logistic regression was used to analyze the association between severe ROP and MDM. The risks for the different stages of ROP from MDM were compared using chi-square linear trend test. RESULTS: We extracted 883 paired maternal-neonatal data. The mean (standard deviation) gestational age and birthweight were 28.5 (2.9) weeks and 1052.7 (300.9) grams, respectively. Of the 883 mothers, 72 (8.2%) had DM. The incidence of ROP and severe ROP was 42.4% (374/883) and 6.5% (57/883) respectively. The odds ratio comparing MDM and severe ROP was 3.47 [95% CI: 1.51–7.96]; p<0.01). Compared to Stage I, the risk of MDM in infants with ROP increased from 1.49 in Stage II ROP to 2.59 in Stages III&IV. Severe ROP was associated with infant steroid use (OR: 5.92 [95% CI: 2.83–12.38]; p <0.01), sepsis (OR: 2.13 [95% CI: 1.09–4.14]; p = 0.03) chorioamnionitis (OR: 1.90 [95% CI: 1.03–3.50]; p = 0.04), and maternal steroid use (OR: 0.51 [95% CI: 0.32–0.79]; p<0.01). CONCLUSION: Maternal diabetes is associated with ROP and the strength of association increased with increasing severity of ROP.