Factors associated with refractive outcome in children treated with bevacizumab for retinopathy of prematurity: the importance of retinal vascularization.

Objective: To evaluate the factors that may be associated with refractive outcome in eyes treated with intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) injection for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

Methods: Retrospective case series. Refractive outcomes of 181 infants who were treated with primary IVB for Type I ROP or aggressive ROP, were retrospectively evaluated. According to the pretreatment retinal vascularization, eyes were classified into zone I, zone I-zone II, and zone II groups. The first year, third year, and final refractive error were analyzed. Univariate logistic regression test was performed to evaluate the effect of factors on the development of ≥ 1 diopter (D) myopia.

Results: At the final examination, the mean age was 22.9 ± 10.9 months. The zone II group was more hyperopic than the zone I-zone II and zone I zone groups (P = 0.001). Of the 331 eyes, 17 eyes (5.1%) had high myopia, 50 eyes (15.1%) had low myopia, and 83 eyes (25.1%) had emmetropia. During follow-up, 110 (33.2%) eyes underwent laser treatment. Gestational age, birth weight, neonatal intensive care unit type, the presence of additional laser treatment, number of injections, the type of ROP, and the dose of IVB were not associated with the development of ≥ 1 D myopia. The pretreatment and prelaser retinal zones were associated with the development of ≥ 1 D myopia.

Conclusions: The most important factors affecting the refractive outcome in infants who underwent primary IVB treatment was the extent of pretreatment and prelaser retinal vascularization.