Universal Newborn Eye Screening in São Paulo, Brazil

This brief report describes the incidence and characteristics of ocular abnormalities in healthy term newborn infants (HTNI) in 5,000 consecutive eye examinations from a database of 32,000 infants from 17 hospitals in São Paulo, Brazil. Imaging consisted of five views of the retina (optic nerve center, superior, inferior, nasal, temporal) with 130° wide-angle lens and one view of the anterior segment in each eye. These images were curated on four separate occasions for the presence or absence of ocular abnormality by a pediatric retina specialist. All images were obtained within 72 hours of birth. A total of 59,792 images were curated: Right Eye Normal (21,473 images), Left Eye Normal (21,983 images), Right Eye Abnormal (8,397 images), Left Eye Abnormal (7,939 images). An ocular abnormality appeared in 37.7% of patients; 4.88% showed a referral-warranted pathology. Based on these data, it is not unreasonable to consider instituting universal newborn eye screening in HTNI.