Abstract
Purpose :
The increasing incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is likely due to advancements in neonatal care which allow for improved survival rates of very premature infants. Our study investigated what factors may have led to an increased number of babies requiring second ROP treatment between 2020-2022 as compared to previous years.
Methods :
This is a retrospective cohort study of premature infants who were treated for ROP between 2017-2022 at Tampa General Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit in Tampa, Florida. Infants were separated into two groups: those born from 2017-2019 (N=22) and those born from 2020-2022 (N=36). We aimed to see what factors led to an increased number of babies requiring second treatment in recent years. The characteristics of infants treated for ROP were analyzed using Pearson’s chi-square test and Kruskal-Wallis test.
Results :
We identified a cohort of 58 infants who received treatment for ROP, 33 (56.9%) of which were male. Patients demonstrated known risk factors for ROP such as hypotension (48 patients, 82.8%), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (56 patients, 96.6%), need for O2 supplementation at initial ROP exam (56 patients, 96.6%), and need for blood transfusions during hospitalization (57 patients, 98.3%). 56 patients were initially treated with intravitreal bevacizumab, while 2 patients underwent laser therapy as initial treatment. Although we did not find a significant difference in the number of babies requiring initial treatment (N=22 versus N=36), we found a significant difference in the need for second ROP treatment when comparing groups separated by birth year from 2017-2019 and 2020-2022 (13.6% vs 61%, p<0.001). The predominant second treatment was laser therapy (19 patients). We did not identify a significant difference in gestational age (p=0.747) or birth weight between the two groups.
Conclusions :
These findings indicate an increased incidence of patients requiring second treatment for ROP between the years 2020-2022. While the most common initial treatment was intravitreal bevacizumab, secondary treatments were primarily laser therapy. Our data did not support an increased incidence of second ROP treatment due to gestational ages of premature infants (i.e. younger gestational age) or low birth weight. Future studies can look at rate of weight gain as a factor, which was not analyzed as part of this study.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.