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Angiographic findings in cases with a history of severe retinopathy of prematurity treated with anti-VEGFs: Follow-up to age 6 years

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Abstract

Purpose

To report the effects of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) treatment in vascular development for cases of acute retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) using fluorescent angiography (FA) and to present the results of our observational approach to retinal sequelae.

Methods

A total of 31 eyes in 19 patients with a history of treatment with anti-VEGF agents for classic type 1 ROP and aggressive posterior ROP who underwent FA between March 2014 to February 2020 were reviewed. Angiograms of retinal developmental features of patients aged 4 months to 6 years were examined.

Results

The patients mean gestational age were 26.06 ± 1.90 weeks and the mean birth weight were 837.68 ± 236.79 g. All cases showed various abnormalities at the vascular and avascular retina, and the posterior pole. All but one case showed a peripheral avascular area on FA evaluation during the follow-up period. We did not apply prophylactic laser treatment to these avascular retina. On the final examination, except one case, we did not observe any late reactivation in any patients.

Conclusion

FA is an important tool for assessing vascular maturation in infants. Every leakage should not be assumed to be evidence of late activation, as some leaks may be related to vascular immaturity. Retinal vascularization may not be completed in all patients, however this does not mean that all these patients need prophylactic laser application. Our observational approach may be more daring than the reports frequently encountered in the literature, but it should be noted that unnecessary laser treatment will also eliminate all the advantages of anti-VEGF treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Marmara University School of Medicine, Fevzi Çakmak Mah. Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu Cad. No:10, 34899, Pendik/Istanbul, Turkey

    Hande Celiker & Ozlem Sahin

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  1. Hande Celiker
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The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper, specifically involved in conceptualization, data curation formal analysis investigation methodology project administration, visualization, writing—original draft: H.C. Supervision, validation, writing—review & editing: O.S.

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Correspondence to Hande Celiker.

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Celiker, H., Sahin, O. Angiographic findings in cases with a history of severe retinopathy of prematurity treated with anti-VEGFs: Follow-up to age 6 years. Int Ophthalmol 42, 1317–1337 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-021-02119-y

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