The Pitter-Patter of Tiny Diagnoses

Every year, retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) affects between 400 and 600 infants in the US (1). ROP continues to be a leading cause of strabismus, amblyopia, and severe near-sightedness in premature babies – and can lead to total vision loss, if not diagnosed and treated quickly. And therein lies the problem: the current model has low specificity for predicting which premature infants are most at risk of severe ROP; only 5–10 percent of those selected for a screening examination go on to receive treatment. But that looks set to change – thanks to a new model that boosts accuracy while maintaining, or even improving upon, sensitivity (1).