The natural ocular outcome of premature birth and retinopathy. Status at 1 year. Cryotherapy for Retinopathy of Prematurity Cooperative Group.

OBJECTIVE

To present the 1-year ocular outcome data from 2759 preterm infants.

DESIGN

Data from all untreated eyes were tabulated. Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) was listed by the lowest (most posterior) zone and highest (most severe) stage reached during the acute phase of ROP, based on examinations conducted at least biweekly.

SETTING

Examinations were performed at 23 regional study centers.

PATIENTS: The natural history cohort of the Multicenter Trial of Cryotherapy for ROP.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Ocular structure and visual performance.

RESULTS

The worst posterior fundus outcome rates were in eyes with zone I, stage 3 disease (59.3% unfavorable outcome) and zone II, stage 3+ ROP involving nine to 12 sectors of 30 degrees (43.9% unfavorable outcome). Eyes with zone II ROP without plus disease or with zone III ROP are at very low risk (< 1%) of unfavorable outcome.

CONCLUSION

The more posterior the zone of ROP and the greater the extent of stage 3+ disease, the greater the unfavorable outcome rate.