1 Bioengineering Unit, Oxford University, Department of Paediatrics, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU United Kingdom
To the Editor.
Hittner et al1 and Speer et al2 have recently reported that supplementation of vitamin E in premature infants reduces the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity and intraventricular hemorrhage, respectively. Ensuing correspondence3,4 has been primarily concerned with the potentially toxic effects of vitamin E. (It should be noted that, in contrast, Phelps5 found no evidence that the use of vitamin E reduced the incidence of intraventricular hemorrhage.)
However, we believe that the most significant aspect of these papers1,2 is their support of the hypothesis that both retinopathy of prematurity and intraventricular hemorrhage are manifestations of oxidative damage caused by oxygen-derived free radicals.