Is There a Relationship Between First-Trimester Aneuploidy Screening Serum Biomarker Values and Nuchal Translucency Measurements and the Development of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) in Premature Infants?

Mehmet Fatih Küçük; Hasan Basri Savaş; Elcin Suren; Muhammet Erol; Lütfiye Yaprak; Senol Sabanci

doi:10.7759/cureus.46969

Is There a Relationship Between First-Trimester Aneuploidy Screening Serum Biomarker Values and Nuchal Translucency Measurements and the Development of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) in Premature Infants?

Cureus. 2023 Oct 13;15(10):e46969. doi: 10.7759/cureus.46969. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Authors

Mehmet Fatih Küçük¹, Hasan Basri Savaş², Elcin Suren¹, Muhammet Erol¹, Lütfiye Yaprak¹, Senol Sabanci³

Affiliations

¹ Ophthalmology, Health Sciences University, Antalya Training and Research Hospital, Antalya, TUR.
² Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Mardin Artuklu University, Mardin, TUR.
³ Ophthalmology, Antalya Education and Research Hospital, Antalya, TUR.

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is the evaluation of serum biomarker and nuchal translucency (NT) values measured during first-trimester aneuploidy screening in terms of the development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in premature infants and investigation of whether the development of ROP is associated with these parameters. Methods In this retrospective cohort study, 3,750 premature infants who underwent ROP screening from 2016 to 2021 were identified from the hospital medical record system. Among 2,130 premature babies screened for first-trimester aneuploidy, 166 babies whose mothers had single pregnancies were screened by the same method and showed the same clinical course in both eyes were included in the study. The infants were divided into two groups according to the presence of ROP, and those with ROP were further evaluated in two groups according to the presence of proliferation. The groups were compared in terms of the serum values of human chorionic gonadotropin and pregnancy-associated plasma protein A, among aneuploidy screening biomarkers, and NT measurements. Results There was no significant difference in the evaluated serum biomarker values and NT measurements between the ROP and non-ROP groups or between the proliferative ROP, non-proliferative ROP, and non-ROP groups. Conclusion Our results showed that first-trimester aneuploidy screening serum biomarker values and NT measurements were not associated with the development of ROP in premature infants.

Keywords: first-trimester aneuploidy screening; human chorionic gonadotropin; nuchal translucency; pregnancy-associated plasma protein a; retinopathy of prematurity.