Background: To investigate the ability of characterizing neonatal retinal hemorrhage (RH) using RetCam in healthy newborns and the systemic effects during the procedure.
Methods: This prospective study enrolled 68 healthy newborns aged 2 to 4 days old. The RH was imaged and classified according to the location and numbers of hemorrhages. The heart rate (HR), respiration rate (RR), and oxygen saturation (OS) were recorded at 4 time points before (Phase 1, P1), during (P2 and P3) and after the examination (P4).
Results: The median exam time was 151 s. RH was present in 15 infants and 23 eyes. All 23 eyes had hemorrhage in Zone II. Grade II and III hemorrhages were present in 5 and 18 eyes, respectively. The HR increased to 168 beats per minute (bpm) in P3 and recovered to 122.5 bpm in P4. The RR increased to 38 bpm in P3 and recovered to 25 bpm in P4. The OS was reduced to 83% in P2 and recovered to 96% in P4.
Conclusions: RH in healthy newborns, mostly present in Zone II with grade II and III, can be characterized in detail by RetCam. Systemic effects during the process are mild and can be revolved spontaneously.
Keywords: Digital imaging; Fundus examination; Neonatal retinal hemorrhage; RetCam; Systemic effects.