Preliminary anatomical and neurodevelopmental outcomes of intravitreal bevacizumab as adjunctive treatment for retinopathy of prematurity.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the two-year follow-up of patients with type 1 retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) who received intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) as adjunctive treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a longitudinal follow-up study of premature infants who received 0.625 mg IVB therapy in addition to standard laser photocoagulation therapy. For comparison of the ophthalmological and neurological assessment outcomes of these infants, a control group was formed with 13 birth weight- and gestational age-matched infants who were treated with laser therapy alone for type 1 ROP. The neurological status of the study group and the control group was examined systematically, and neurodevelopmental evaluation was assessed by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-III). RESULTS: A total of 18 eyes of 13 infants were included in the study. Anatomical success was obtained in 14 eyes (78%) and retinal detachment was observed in 4 eyes (22%). At two years of age, no significant difference was found in terms of spherical or cylindrical refractive errors compared to the control group. In control group, 2/13 patients' and in study group, 3/13 patients' neurological examinations were abnormal. No significant difference was found in the mean cognitive, language or motor BSID-III test scores of the groups. CONCLUSIONS: IVB appears to be useful for advanced ROP when laser treatment is precluded or not sufficient for preventing the progression of ROP. This pilot study indicates that IVB seems to contribute no further complications to the complications already present due to prematurity.

Epidemiological analysis of retinopathy of prematurity in a referral centre in Turkey.

PURPOSE: To collect data towards the establishment of a guideline to predict the population under risk for the development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in Turkey. METHODS: Medical reports of 2950 preterm infants who underwent screening examinations for ROP between 1996 and 2010 at Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology were reviewed. The study population was classified as inpatient infants and referred infants. A risk factor analysis was performed limited to the 788 inpatient infants. The demographical variables regarding birth weight (BW), gestational age (GA) and postnatal age at the time of treatment were compared independently between 403 referred and 64 inpatient infants who were treated for severe ROP. RESULTS: The mean GA of the infants with severe ROP was 31.2±2.7 weeks, mean BW was 1543.4±508.3 g. The risk factor analysis of inpatient infants revealed BW<1500 g, GA<32 weeks; intraventricular haemorrhage, respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, apnoea and phototherapy were associated with a higher incidence of ROP. In addition, sepsis, male gender, multiple gestations, BW<1500 g were associated with a higher incidence of progression to severe ROP, whereas maternal pre-eclampsia was associated with a lower incidence. On the other hand, comparison of demographic features revealed that the referred infants with ROP were born at a significantly higher BW and needed significantly earlier treatment than inpatient infants with ROP. CONCLUSIONS: The high BW and GA of infants with severe ROP indicate wider screening criteria should be used in our country. BW might be a more important criterion than GA for ROP screening.