Laser photocoagulation in the treatment of retinopathy of prematurity in cases with birth weights above 1000 grams

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the clinical features and treatment results of the cases with birth weight (BW) above 1000 grams applied for laser photocoagulation (LPC) for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). The files of the patients who underwent laser photocoagulation due to ROP in our clinic were retrospectively reviewed. Gender, the mean gestational age, the mean BW, the mean postmenstrual (PM) age at the treatment, the mean number of laser spots for each eye, intraoperative and postoperative complications were recorded. A total of 134 eyes of 70 infants were included in the study, including 73 eyes of 37 infants in group 1 and 61 eyes of 33 infants in group 2. The mean BW of the babies was 784.3 ± 140.0 g in group 1 and 1332.4 ± 239.9 g in group 2. The mean number of laser spots for each eye was 1170.7 ± 549.8 in group 1 and 850.9 ± 362.8 in group 2. While preretinal/vitreous hemorrhage (8.2%) in 6 eyes of 6 patients and fibrotic proliferation in 8 eyes of 6 patients (11%) in group 1 were observed, preretinal/vitreous hemorrhage in three eyes (4.9%) of three patients, fibrotic proliferation in 15 eyes (24.6%) of 24 patients and tractional retinal detachment in two eyes (3.3%) of two infants in group 2 were detected. In cases with BW above 1000 g, laser therapy is an effective method, but ROP may develop in older PM age and complications such as fibrovascular proliferation, and related tractional retinal detachment may develop in these cases. [Med-Science 2019; 8(4.000): 1002-5]

Keywords

• retinopathy of prematurity
• laser photocoagulation
• fibrovascular proliferation
• tractional retinal detachment