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ROP is the short form of Retinopathy Of Prematurity and it is common condition that happens in premature babies. In this condition the blood tissue and the scar tissue grow over the retina. As you know that retina is the part of the eye that allows you to see and hence it is very important for normal vision to have no defects in retina. But in premature babies the blood vessels and the scar tissue grow over the retina and thus affect the vision. When the premature baby is kept inside the neonatal intensive care unit then the doctor will diagnose this condition after examining the baby's eyes.
The actual causes behind getting ROP are not known. Initially it was believed that the oxygen given to the baby was responsible for causing ROP but later on this possibility was ruled out. How premature the baby is and what is the baby's birth weight are the deciding factors that are responsible for causing ROP. In many premature babies the abnormal blood vessels will shrink in some days and thus will not affect the normal vision. But in some cases the ROP will cause the detachment of the retina and thus may be responsible for causing partial to severe vision loss. The number of newborns loosing complete eyesight due to ROP is very less.
As the real cause of ROP is not known it is very difficult to prevent ROP from occurring. The early signs of this condition are not visible and the symptoms will start showing only when the disease becomes severe. While examining your premature baby if the ophthalmologist detects the ROP then this condition can be controlled in its early stage. But this case rarely happens, as there are no early sings of ROP in the infant.
Most of the premature babies will overcome ROP without the need of any medical treatment. In case of severe conditions the doctor will suggest either laser surgery or cryotherapy. In cryotherapy a pen like instrument is used to freeze the side areas of the retina. This same thing can also be done with the help of laser surgery. These two treatments will slow down the abnormal growth of blood vessels and scar tissues. In many cases these therapies are also useful in reversing the abnormal growth of the blood vessels and the scar tissue. For this reason only when your baby is in NICU, the ophthalmologist will do routine eye check up of your baby. The surgery option will be decided based on the severity of the ROP and the location of the abnormal growth of blood vessels.
There are some risks involved in these treatments and there are some chances of vision loss also. The surgery may sometime be successful in resotring-limited vision. There are chances of the baby getting glaucoma and misaligned eyes, which will also need further treatments to get cure. You will need to take your baby for regular eye checkups. This is the only way that way you can treat your child and protect his or her vision.
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