Risk of recurrence of retinopathy of prematurity after initial intravitreal ranibizumab therapy.

We report our experience with the use of intravitreal ranibizumab for the treatment of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). A retrospective review was performed on 138 consecutive infants screened at a single centre over 18 months. Intravitreal ranibizumab was offered in selected cases requiring treatment, such as aggressive posterior ROP or poor mydriasis. 2 eyes of 1 infant received intravitreal ranibizumab alone and 8 eyes of 5 infants received combined intravitreal ranibizumab and laser therapy. 3 out of 8 eyes treated initially with intravitreal ranibizumab monotherapy had persistent disease requiring laser therapy, and 3 out of 5 eyes with initial regression suffered disease recurrence at a mean of 7.6 weeks post-injection. 2 eyes treated first with laser followed by intravitreal ranibizumab had disease regression without recurrence. Our cohort demonstrate a significant rate of persistent disease and recurrence in ROP eyes treated initially with intravitreal ranibizumab monotherapy, which is greater and earlier than that reported for intravitreal bevacizumab in the BEAT-ROP study. Intravitreal ranibizumab may be useful as an initial treatment in selected cases of ROP when laser therapy as first line is suboptimal. However, close monitoring is important and adjunctive laser therapy may subsequently be needed in a majority of cases.

SR and LR Union Suture for the Treatment of Myopic Strabismus Fixus: Is Scleral Fixation Necessary?

PURPOSE: To evaluate and compare the effectiveness of scleral fixation SR and LR union suture and nonscleral fixation union suture for the treatment of myopic strabismus fixus. METHODS: Retrospective review of 32 eyes of 22 patients with myopic strabismus fixus who had undergone union suture of superior rectus (SR) and lateral rectus (LR) with or without scleral fixation, and follow-up longer than 6 months at Hong Kong Eye Hospital from 2006 to 2013. Surgical techniques and outcomes in terms of ocular alignment are analyzed. RESULTS: There is significant overall improvement both in postoperative angle of esodeviation (P < 0.01) and postoperative range of movement (P = 0.042). Comparing between the sclera fixation group (11 eyes) versus nonscleral fixation group (21 eyes), the postoperative horizontal deviation, the postoperative vertical deviation, successful outcome, and the change in horizontal deviation were not significantly different (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Union suture of SR and LR is an effective procedure in correcting myopic strabismus fixus. Fixation of the union suture to the sclera does not improve surgical outcome.

Photodynamic therapy with or without intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide for symptomatic polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the outcome of verteporfin photodynamic therapy (PDT) with or without intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (IVTA) for the treatment of symptomatic polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). METHODS: Retrospective analysis of PCV patients who underwent PDT with or without IVTA with follow-up of 2 or more years. Changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), proportion of eyes with moderate visual loss (3 or more lines), and complications were compared between patients with or without IVTA. RESULTS: Twenty-seven eyes of 27 patients were analyzed, with 12 eyes treated by PDT monotherapy and 15 eyes treated by combined PDT with IVTA. The baseline characteristics of both groups were similar. At 1 year, the mean logMAR BCVA for the PDT monotherapy group improved from 0.74 to 0.58 (P = 0.011), whereas the combined PDT and IVTA group improved from 0.84 to 0.74 (P = 0.17). At 2 years, the mean logMAR BCVA for the monotherapy and combined treatment groups were 0.62 and 0.84, respectively, and the changes compared with baseline were not statistically significant. No significant difference was found in the mean logMAR BCVA, the mean line of visual changes, and the mean number of PDT treatments between the 2 groups at 1 and 2 years. One (8.3%) and 4 (26.7%) eyes in the monotherapy and the combined groups lost 3 or more lines at 2 years, respectively. Patients who had combined PDT with IVTA were more likely to develop cataract requiring surgery and ocular hypertension (P = 0.043 and 0.046, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: PDT reduced the risks of visual loss in patients with symptomatic PCV in the short term but the effect might not be sustained after 1 year. The adjunctive use of IVTA during PDT did not appear to result in additional benefit for treating PCV.