1. Aleksandra Radosavljevic, Albania
Purpose: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is the disease of immature retinas of prematurely newborns and is the major cause of blindness in this population. Aggressive posterior ROP (AP ROP) is the most severe form of ROP, with often unpredictable and unfavourable outcome. The purpose of this paper is to present case series of patients with AP ROP.
Methods: Prospective study of patients treated for AP ROP at Clinic for Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Clinical Centre of Serbia and Institute for Neonatology in Belgrade, Serbia. Patients underwent complete ophthalmological examination including medical history, slit lamp examination, indirect ophthalmoscopy with 20D lens, fundus photography and neonatologists’ examination. Patients were treated with laser photocoagulation and in some cases, anti-VEGF drugs were administered intravitrealy.
Results: AP ROP is characterized by the posterior localization of new vessels, marked plus sign (congestion of blood vessels in iris, iridoplegia, vitreal opacities, dilatation of veins and tortuosity of arterial vessels on the posterior pole of the eye) and extremely rapid progression of the disease with need for immediate treatment due to the potential complications such as retinal detachment. Treatment modalities include extensive laser photocoagulation of the avascular retina (in the widespread zone with more than 2000 laser spots of high power and duration) and in the most severe cases which do not respond to the laser treatment, application of intravitreal anti-VEGF drugs. Patient follow up must be on every 7 days and in case of complications, experienced vitreoretinal surgeon must be a part of the team, although final functional outcome is unpredictable.
Conclusion: AP ROP is the most severe form of ROP with extremely rapid progression of the disease and early development of the sight threatening complications. Standard treatment modalities included extensive laser photocoagulation of the ischemic retina and vitreoretinal surgery. Application of intravitreal anti-VEGF drugs is a new treatment option for the most severe cases that for the moment has promising results.
Кључне речи :
Тематска област:
pedijatrijska oftalmlogija
Уводни рад:
Да
Датум:
27.03.2012.
Бр. отварања:
1021
