Abstract
Purpose: :
Progression of myopia and visual loss are major problems in patient who underwent laser treatment for retinopathy of prematurity(ROP). We conducted this study to determine the relationship between the degree of laser treatment and myopia and/or visual acuity(VA) loss.
Methods: :
The mean gestational age of all patients was 26.6±2.35 weeks(range, 23-34). The mean birth weight was 955.9±374.1 grams(range, 334-2,340). One hundred and fourty eight eyes without macular abnormality were divided into three groups based on treatment modalities: circumferencial photocoagulation(CPC), hemispheric photocoagulation(HPC), and no photocoagulation(NPC). These results were correlated with refractive error and VA. Statistical analysis were performed.
Results: :
The incidence of myopia increased between 0 and 23 months, with little change after 2 years. At ages 2 to 5 years, the refractive error averaged -5.02±4.62 diopters(D) in 59 eyes treated with CPC, -0.67±2.73D in 50 eyes with HPC, and +1.44±1.96D in 39 eyes with NPC. The progression of myopia was correlated significantly with the degree of photocoagulation (P<0.01, Tukey-Kramer test). Incidence of myopia exceeding 5D was 49.2% in eyes treated with CPC, 6.0% in eyes treated with HPC, and 0% in eyes with NPC. At ages up to 6 years, the best VA averaged 0.38±0.39(logMAR) in 59 eyes treated with CPC, 0.10±0.20 in 50 eyes treated with HPC, 0.10±0.23 in 39 eyes with NPC. The VAs differed significantly between the CPC group and the HPC group and between the CPC group and the NPC group(p<0.01 for all comparisons by the Tukey-Kramer test). The incidence of VA exceeding 20/20(logMAR=0) was 13.6% in eyes treated with CPC, 52.0% in eyes treated with HPC, and 56.4% with NPC.
Conclusions: :
A high degree of laser photocoagulation results in progression of myopia. Circumferential photocoagulation especialy resulted in higher incidence of myopia and impaired VA.
Keywords: retinopathy of prematurity • refractive error development • visual development: infancy and childhood