Abstract
Purpose :
Plus disease, i.e. retinal vascular dilation and tortuosity in the posterior pole, is usually present in type 1 retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), and typically improves after treatment. However, it is unknown if vessels in certain quadrants respond to treatment quicker. The purpose of this study is to quantitatively compare posterior pole vascular changes between temporal vs. nasal and superior vs. inferior quadrants after treatment.
Methods :
This retrospective study used prospectively-collected narrow-field retinal images from infants treated for ROP. We included images acquired in the session just prior to and ≤6 weeks post-treatment. We used ROPtool (a semiautomated vessel analysis program) to trace and analyze ≤2 vessels/quadrant, following the same vessels over time. The following ROPtool indices of vessel characteristics were calculated: dilation index (DI), tortuosity index (TI), and combination dilation/tortuosity indices: sum of adjusted indices (SAI) and tortuosity-weighted plus (TWP). Using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, ROPtool indices pre- and post-treatment were compared between temporal vs. nasal and superior vs. inferior quadrants.
Results :
Fifteen eyes (8 infants) were treated for ROP. Among 80 eligible imaging sessions, 627/640 (98.0%) vessels were traceable by ROPtool. Temporal quadrant values were higher than nasal quadrant values for all ROPtool indices pre-treatment, for DI at weeks 1-5 post-treatment, and for SAI at week 1 post-treatment (Table 1). Post-treatment, the temporal quadrant values decreased faster than nasal quadrants for all indices week 1 post-treatment [median weekly rates: DI (-1.2 vs. -0.6, p=0.02), TI (-1.4 vs. -0.8, p=0.003), SAI (-1.0 vs. -0.5, p=0.01), TWP (-1.0 vs. -0.5, p=0.04)] (Fig 1A, 1C).
There were no statistically significant differences in ROPtool indices between superior and inferior quadrants pre- and ≤6 weeks post-treatment.
Conclusions :
Among eyes treated for ROP, temporal vessels were more dilated and tortuous pre-treatment, remained more dilated post-treatment, and had faster regression of dilation and tortuosity than nasal vessels in the first week post-treatment.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.