Abstract
Purpose :
Correlation of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) between eyes has been reported in high-risk populations. We sought to evaluate inter-eye symmetry for ROP in a broad-risk cohort representative of infants undergoing ROP screening.
Methods :
Retrospective cohort study of infants undergoing ROP examinations from 29 hospitals between 2006-2012 (The G-ROP Study). Primary outcomes were symmetry for type (type 1, 2, not 1 or 2, no ROP), highest stage of ROP, and disease course of asymmetric fellow eyes when one eye developed type 1.
Results :
7483 infants were studied. 94% of right and left eyes were symmetric for type. 93% of eyes were symmetric for highest stage. 378/459 (82%) infants developed type 1 in both eyes together. In 44 infants, one eye had type 1 and the fellow eye was treated simultaneously for type 2. All 37 remaining fellow eyes had ROP: 8 developed type 1 and were treated (6 within 2 weeks, all within 4 weeks); 4 developed type 2 and regressed; and 25 developed ROP less than type 1 or 2 and regressed.
Conclusions :
ROP is a highly symmetric disease between eyes with respect to the presence and severity of disease. When type 1 ROP develops in only one eye, the risk of progression to type 1 in the fellow eye is very low if it has not occurred within 4 weeks.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.