Hatice Tuba ATALAY, Özdemir ÖZDEMİR, İhsan Gökhan GÜRELİK, Ahmet Murad HONDUR, Zühal ÖZEN TUNAY, İkbal Seza PETRİÇLİ, Mehmet Özgür ÇUBUK

Intravitreal bevacizumab for retinopathy of prematurity in infants ineligible for laser therapy

Background/aim: To evaluate refractive and strabismic results and the efficacy of intravitreal bevacizumab in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) ineligible for laser therapy. Materials and methods: Thirty-nine eyes of 20 consecutive infants with high-risk prethreshold ROP (11 infants with Zone I and 9 infants with Zone II disease) who were ineligible for laser therapy due to systemic and/or ocular conditions were treated with intravitreal bevacizumab. Recurrent retinopathy was treated with laser ablation. The final follow-up examination was performed at 29.8 ± 6.0 months of corrected age. Results: All eyes responded to the initial treatment with intravitreal bevacizumab. ROP recurred in 8 eyes (36%) with initial Zone I disease and in only 2 eyes (11%) with initial Zone II disease, which were successfully treated with laser ablation. No eye developed myopia higher than 5.0 diopters. At 2.5 years, the Zone I eyes that had received laser treatment appeared to be more myopic than the Zone I eyes treated only with intravitreal bevacizumab (P = 0.038). A tendency for a higher incidence of strabismus after additional laser therapy was also noted, but was not significant (P = 0.22). Conclusion: Avoidance or even deferral of laser ablation with intravitreal bevacizumab may lead to less myopization in ROP compared with conventional laser treatment.

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