Lack of efficacy of light reduction in preventing retinopathy of prematurity. Light Reduction in Retinopathy of Prematurity (LIGHT-ROP) Cooperative Group. Retrolental fibroplasia; the negative role of light, mydriatrics, and the ophthalmoscopic examination in its etiology. Light reduction and the electroretinogram of preterm infants. A controlled clinical trial of light and retinopathy of prematurity.
Hospital-nursery lighting has been suggested as a factor in causing retinopathy of prematurity. Despite ongoing debate, a causal relation has not been established.
                We conducted a prospective, randomized, multicenter study of the effects of light reduction on 409 premature infants with birth weights of less than 1251 g and gestational ages of less than 31 weeks. Two hundred five infants were exposed to reduced light, and 204 to typical nursery lighting. The amount of light reaching the infants' eyes was reduced within 24 hours after birth by placing goggles on the infants that reduced visible-light exposure by 97 percent and ultraviolet-light exposure by 100 percent. The babies wore the goggles until 31 weeks' postconceptional age or 4 weeks after birth, whichever was longer. Once the goggles were removed, ophthalmologists masked to the treatment assignments assessed the infants for retinopathy of prematurity at least biweekly for up to 13 weeks.
                There were 188 infants in the group that wore goggles and 173 in the control group who survived and were available for follow-up. The mean birth weights were 906 g in the goggles group and 914 g in the control group; the mean gestational ages were 27.4 weeks and 27.2 weeks, respectively. The mean ambient-light level adjacent to the infants' faces was 399 lux for the goggles group and 447 lux for the control group. Retinopathy of prematurity was diagnosed in 102 infants (54 percent) in the goggles group and 100 (58 percent) in the control group (relative risk, 0.9; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.8 to 1.1; P=0.50).
                A reduction in ambient-light exposure does not alter the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity. nan To examine the effects of light on retinal development and function in preterm infants as measured by the electroretinogram (ERG). Secondary outcomes included visual acuity testing, the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity, and general wellbeing, reflected in feeding tolerance, rate of weight gain, and length of hospital stay.
                Eligibility criteria for enrollment were birthweight < or = 1250 g and gestational age < or = 31 weeks. Sixty one infants were randomly allocated by 6 hours after birth to a control or treatment group which wore 97% light filtering goggles for a minimum of four weeks or until the infant reached 31 weeks postmenstrual age.
                There were no significant differences between the two groups in the numbers of electroretinograms performed at 36 weeks of postmenstrual age. Although the sample size was not large enough to exclude clinically important differences in secondary outcomes, no significant differences were observed between the groups in visual acuity testing at 4-6 months corrected age, incidence of retinopathy of prematurity, weight gain, or length of stay.
                These data support the safety and feasibility of this intervention. A much larger study will be needed to determine whether light reduction to the eyes of very low birthweight infants will reduce the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity or enhance general well-being. Bright continuous light has been implicated in the pathogenesis of retinopathy of prematurity. To investigate the influence of light on the incidence and severity of retinopathy of prematurity, we enrolled 127 preterm infants (birth weight < or = 1,500 g; gestational age < or = 32 weeks) in a controlled clinical study. Randomization was done separately for three birth-weight groups (< 1,000 g; 1,000 to 1,249 g; 1,250 to 1,500 g). The babies' eyes were patched all day and night from birth to a gestational age of 35 weeks. The infants in the control group were exposed to cycled lighting conditions (that is, reduced light level during the night). Of 62 infants with patched eyes, 26 (42%) developed retinopathy of prematurity. In the control group, 25 of 65 infants (39%) showed retinopathy of prematurity (P = .596). There were also no statistically significant differences in the incidences of retinopathy of prematurity in the birth-weight subgroups or in the severity of retinopathy of prematurity. Thus, patching of the eyes from birth to 35 weeks of postconceptional age does not decrease the risk of retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants when compared to a control group exposed to cycled lighting conditions.
Decreasing retinal ambient light exposure in premature infants is very unlikely to reduce the incidence of ROP.