Sustained Hyperoxemia Without Cicatricial Retrolental Fibroplasia

Twenty infants weighing between 890 and 1,750 gm at birth who survived the respiratory distress syndrome had sustained aortic Po2 values >150 mm Hg for 10 to 43 hours; 16 of the 20 had sustained aortic Po2 values >200 mm Hg for 4 to 40 hours; 11 had sustained aortic Po2 values >300 mm Hg for 1 to 21 hours. At 5 months of age or beyond, 19 had no evidence of cicatricial retrolental fibroplasia, while one who died at 6 weeks of age had no eye abnormalities two weeks earlier. These findings suggest there may be one or more factors other than oxygen operative in the etiology of cicatricial retrolental fibroplasia.