Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) formerly known as retrolental fibroplasia (RLF) is an enigmatic disease of the developing retinal vasculature of the prematurely born infant. It is a disease of modern times. Many diseases have been discovered or recognized in the past decades, yet they have existed for centuries. Quite the contrary, the first ever cases of ROP occurred around 1940. ROP was a creation of modern medical technology. It was an unexpected consequence of applying technology to save the lives of premature infants, just as industrial workers fell ill from unanticipated side effects of modern progress. In that sense it is an iatrogenic disease. ROP could not exist without technologic intervention. It is very much an expected side effect of such treatment. And despite our now much more sophisticated understanding of the disease, its incidence continues unabated. Having said this, ROP is manifestly not an exclusively environmental disease. It is an environmental disease that is superimposed on a receptive physiology not only in the now classic sense of genetic susceptibility, but in a more subtle, universally applicable way. The truth of that will be seen as the story of ROP unfolds.