June 18/Salt Lake City/Neonatology -- Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is the second most common cause of childhood blindness in the U.S., occurring in half of premature infants born earlier than or at 28 weeks gestational age. The condition is caused by abnormal blood vessel development in the retina of the eye. ROP risk increases with decreasing gestational age. A study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) suggests that the antioxidant, rhSOD (recombinant human Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase), reduces the risk of developing ROP in extremely low gestational age newborns.
The post-hoc analysis study is published online on June 15, 2012 in Neonatology.