Short-term retinal detachment risk after treatment of type 1 retinopathy of prematurity with laser photocoagulation versus intravitreal bevacizumab.

PURPOSE: To perform a stratified comparison of the short-term risk of retinal detachment after treatment of type 1 retinopathy of prematurity treated with panretinal photocoagulation laser versus intravitreal bevacizumab.

METHODS

The medical records of consecutive infants treated for type 1 ROP between 2010 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. An a priori decision was made to divide infants into two groups, those treated before postmenstrual age (PMA) of 36 0/7 weeks and those treated at or after PMA of 36 0/7 weeks. The primary outcome was presence of any retinal detachment (stage 4A, 4B, or 5) during the 8 weeks following treatment.

RESULTS

A total of 222 eyes of 115 infants were included. In eyes treated before 36 0/7 weeks' PMA, retinal detachment occurred in 0 of 34 eyes treated initially with bevacizumab compared with 9 of 56 (16%) treated with laser (P = 0.0112); in eyes treated at or after 36 0/7 weeks, in 0 of 2 eyes treated with bevacizumab and 1 of 130 eyes (0.8%) treated with laser.

CONCLUSIONS

The short-term risk of retinal detachment among infants requiring treatment for type 1 ROP prior to 36 0/7 weeks' PMA was lower in eyes treated with intravitreal bevacizumab than in eyes treated with laser, presumably due to the faster effect of bevacizumab in eyes that have more aggressive ROP.