Abstract
Purpose :
Laser photocoagulation (PC) is still the main treatment for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). As a complication of this treatment, it is well known that high myopia frequently occurs from an early stage under 1 year of age, but this mechanism has not been clarified. We investigated any risk factors including ocular biometrics for development of myopia.
Methods :
Eighty eyes of 40 patients who received laser treatment with type1 zone2 stage3+ ROP were examined. Fundus examination, retinoscopy, and A-mode ultrasonography were performed at 1-year-old. The correlation between gestational age, birth weight, laser irradiation count, ocular biometrics and equivalent spherical power were studied by multivariate analysis [peason].
Results :
The average gestational age of subjects was 26 weeks 4 days±18.9 days, and the average birth weight was 831.1g±392.6g. In our hospital, all PCs were performed in both eyes in a single operation, and the average irradiation number was 1223.8±359.3 for one eye. Ocular axial length was 19.7±1.5mm (16.26mm to 27.33mm), lens thickness was 3.9±0.5mm and anterior chamber depth was 2.92±0.5mm (average±SD). Spherical aberration was +0.21D±3.05D (-10.0D to +6.0D). Sixteen eyes (20%) had myopic eyes of -2.0D or more. The ocular axial length (R=-0.24, p=0.003067) and the laser irradiation count (R=-0.51, p=0.00088) were correlated significantly with the equivalent spherical power. Furthermore, the significant positive correlation was found between ocular axial length and laser irradiation count (R=0.45 p=0.00342).
Conclusions :
This study suggested that elongation of ocular axial length at 1 year of age by laser treatment of ROP might cause a myopia from an early stage of life.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.