Refractive and Visual Outcome after Laser-Treated Retinopathy of Prematurity in Western Romania

Florina STOICA, Corina LADARIU, Marie-Jeanne KOOS, Alina STANCIU, Gabriela OLARIU, Nicoleta ANDREESCU and Maria PUIU

ABSTRACT

Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess the functional outcomes registered in patients from the Western part of Romania, who have been treated for retinopathy of prematurity, using a laser diode
(810mn).

Material and Methods: In the current study 52 premature infants with gestational age<34 weeks and a birth weight <2000 grams, 96 eyes in total were included. The functional outcomes were assessed by determining the best corrected visual acuity and refractive error. Statistical analysis used: The data were analysed using the IBM SPSS 20 software. Pearson Correlation was used to assess the strength of the relation between different parameters.

Outcomes: For the eyes with the best visual function (BCVA between 0.8 and 1.0), mean gestational age was 29,452 weeks (SD = 1.958), mean weight at birth was 1363.38 grams (SD = 304.655), the mean energy used during treatment was 370.73 mW (SD = 95.972), and the mean number of burns applied was 1470.44 (SD = 581.960). The spherical equivalent ranged between -24.6 D and +3.4 D. High astigmatism (>3.0 D) was found in 26 eyes (27.08 %) and anisometropia in 29 patients (55.77%). There is a strong positive correlation, statistically significant (P<0.001) between best corrected visual acuity and spherical equivalent, and a negative correlation, statistically significant (P=0.001), between best corrected visual acuity and the number of impacts during laser treatment.

Conclusions: A long term follow-up is necessary in order to obtain an improvement in the quality of life and visual function of the patients who received laser treatment for retinopathy of prematurity.

Keywords: diode laser, functional outcome, refractive error, retinopathy of prematurity, preterm infants

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