الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Retinopathy of prematurity is a vasoproliferative disease that can lead to blindness in its advanced stages. Fortunately, disease progression can be prevented by early recognition of infants with severe sight threatening ROP and proper management. Screening criteria should be tailored in every community since sight threatening ROP can develop in infants with older GA and heavier BW in developing countries than developed countries. The ETROP study helped in refining the definition and classifying prethreshold ROP (previously defined by CRYO-ROP study) into 2 types according to the risk of progression to threshold ROP or the risk of development of poor structural outcomes if left untreated. It was classified into high risk prethreshold (type 1) and low risk prethreshold (type 2) with strong recommendation to early treatment of type 1 ROP opposite to conventional management. The treatment included ablation of peripheral avascular retina using laser. Despite the better results compared to CRYO-ROP study that depended on retinal ablation using cryotherapy, still many undesired sequalae and complications had occurred. With the advance in the comprehension of the pathophysiology of ROP and the emergence of anti-VEGF agents as possible treatment of various retinal vasoproliferative diseases, the BEATROP study investigated the possibility of utilizing Bevacizumab as a primary treatment and concluded better results for zone 1 disease compared to LASER. Other reported advantages of anti-VEGF pharmacotherapy over laser photocoagulation include decreased treatment time with less stress on the neonate, swift resolution of plus disease with prompt regression of ROP, potential of further retinal vascular development with no ablation of the peripheral avascular retina and lower risk of myopia. Moreover, anti- VEGF may be the only treatment option in cases of media opacity or vitreous hemorrhage when an insufficient view is present for laser photocoagulation. However, serious concerns were raised about possible systemic absorption and subsequent suppression of systemic VEGF levels for weeks. VEGF is well known to be essential for normal development of the heart, brain, and various organs. These concerns were advocated by studies reporting contradicting data about neurodevelopmental delay in infants treated with bevacizumab. The shorter half-life of Ranibizumab with less effect on systemic VEGF levels had made him a suitable alternative to bevacizumab in management of ROP. from January 2021 to December 2022, we screened 126 preterm infants who were born at 34 weeks or less GA, weighing 2000 g or less at birth or born at more than 34 weeks GA with associated risk factors (cardiorespiratory support; prolonged oxygen requirement; respiratory distress syndrome; chronic lung disease; fetal hemorrhage; blood transfusion; sepsis; exchange transfusion; intraventricular hemorrhage; apnea; poor post‑natal weight gain), in addition to other preterm infants based on the discretion of the pediatrician or neonatologist. Any infant with congenital eye disease that obscures the fundus view (e.g., corneal opacity and congenital cataract) was excluded.