Saudi Arabian retinopathy of prematurity national telemedicine program: Achievements and challenges

Abstract

The Saudi Arabian Retinopathy of Prematurity National Telemedicine programme (SAROP) is a product of the National Committee for Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). The program includes ROP telescreening, diagnosis, and management of cases requiring treatment. Digital retinal images and filled ROP software requests were uploaded from 20 level-3 neonatal intensive care units (NICU) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital server and the ROP telemedicine website. The data were accessed and reported by qualified retinal and pediatric ophthalmologists. Currently, retinal wide-angle digital cameras are available in 20 of the 31 level-3 NICUs of the Ministry of Health, Kingdom of KSA. This telemedicine approach is practical and effective in detecting and managing ROP cases. In the first 2.5 years, encouraging results were noticed with no unfavorable outcomes in the participating NICUs. Technical challenges were resolved promptly to ensure that the program ran smoothly. Therefore, this ideal state-of-the-art ROP telemedicine program could be also applied to similar and neighboring countries.