Near-confluent laser photocoagulation effective for ROP

WAIKOLOA, Hawaii — Near-confluent laser photocoagulation produced excellent visual acuity results in children with severe retinopathy of prematurity, according to a study.

Researchers from the Department of Ophthalmology, Alberta Children’s Hospital, Canada, retrospectively reviewed the charts of 42 patients treated with near-confluent diode laser photocoagulation for severe ROP.

Near-confluent diode laser photocoagulation was defined as laser therapy with no greater than half the width of space between burns. Researchers presented results in a poster at the annual meeting of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.

Study participants were between 31 and 133 days old during the time of the surgeries, which occurred between 1995 and 2001. Patients who had zone 1 ROP had earlier values for their chronological age and post-conceptional age.

Twenty-four males and 18 females underwent the procedure. The mean birth weight of patients was 756 grams, with a range of 471 to 1240 grams. Mean follow-up period for patients was 37 months. The postoperative visual acuity of patients was 20/30.3, with a spherical equivalent of –2.41 D.

While results were positive, strabismus occurred in 30% of patients, the study authors wrote.