Abstract
Purpose :
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a leading cause of childhood blindness. Infants with ROP receive intense surveillance of their ROP status while they are in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). There is, however, a paucity of research regarding the outcomes and treatment of infants with unresolved ROP following discharge from the NICU. Thus, the purpose of our study was to focus on infants who were classified as having unresolved type 2 or low grade ROP at discharge and determine the number of infants who required ROP treatment following discharge.
Methods :
This descriptive study was conducted at an academic eye center. Using an ROP registry (2006-2021), we identified infants with type 2 (defined as ROP without plus disease that is stage 1-2 in zone 1, or stage 3 in zone 2) and low grade ROP (defined as ROP not qualifying as type 1 or type 2 ROP) at the time of NICU discharge. We examined the infants’ medical records to determine the clinical follow-up and to specifically identify the number of infants who required ROP treatment after discharge.
Results :
Our analysis included 114 (21%) infants with type 2 ROP and 433 (79%) infants with low grade ROP whose ROP had not resolved before discharge from the NICU. 337 infants (61.6%) were followed through resolution as an outpatient at our institution. Three (0.9%) of these infants required treatment after discharge. One infant, who was ventilator dependent throughout their first year, received laser treatment for delayed vascularization at 81 weeks post-menopausal age (PMA). Another converted from type 2 to type 1 ROP shortly after discharge, requiring laser treatment at 40 weeks PMA. The third infant received laser treatment for arrested vascularization and signs of reactivity in zone 3 at 68 weeks PMA.
Conclusions :
Among infants with type 2 and low grade ROP, we found less than 1% required laser treatment after discharge from the hospital. The majority of infants received outpatient care at our institution. While the percentage of infants who required treatment after discharge was encouragingly low, adequate follow-up remains essential to preventing negative outcomes.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.