Foveal structure changes in infants treated with anti-VEGF therapy or laser therapy guided by optical coherence tomography angiography for retinopathy of prematurity
Authors:   Peking University People's Hospital, Eye Diseases and Optometry Institute, Beijing Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Therapy of Retinal and Choroid Diseases, Department of Ophthalmology &#x0026; Clinical Centre of Optometry, College of Optometry, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100044, China, Deng Xun , Zhu Xue-Mei ,   Peking University People's Hospital, Eye Diseases and Optometry Institute, Beijing Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Therapy of Retinal and Choroid Diseases, Department of Ophthalmology &#x0026; Clinical Centre of Optometry, College of Optometry, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100044, China, Linghu Dan-Dan ,   Peking University People's Hospital, Eye Diseases and Optometry Institute, Beijing Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Therapy of Retinal and Choroid Diseases, Department of Ophthalmology &#x0026; Clinical Centre of Optometry, College of Optometry, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100044, China, Xu Hua ,   Department of Ophthalmology, Children's Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215003, Jiangsu Province, China, Liang Jian-Hong ,   Peking University People's Hospital, Eye Diseases and Optometry Institute, Beijing Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Therapy of Retinal and Choroid Diseases, Department of Ophthalmology &#x0026; Clinical Centre of Optometry, College of Optometry, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100044, China
Published: December 2021

AIM: To evaluate foveal vessel density (VD) and foveal thickness using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) children treated with laser photocoagulation or anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injection. Additionally, we assessed the relationship between foveal microvascular anomalies and different therapies in ROP children.
METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective study of patients with a diagnosis of type 1 ROP. Twenty-three eyes (14 patients) treated with anti-VEGF injection and twenty-nine eyes (17 patients) treated with laser coagulation were included in this study. The foveal VD, inner thickness and full thickness were measured at the central 0°, 2° to 8°, and 8° of the retina (centered on the fovea) using OCTA and cross-sectional OCT, respectively.
RESULTS: Foveal VD, inner thickness and full thickness were significantly smaller within the central 8° of the retina in ROP children treated with anti-VEGF injection than in those treated with laser photocoagulation (P=0.013, 0.009, 0.036, respectively). The full thickness was also smaller in the anti-VEGF group than in the laser group at the central 0° of the retina (P=0.010). The grade of foveal hypoplasia is lower in the anti-VEGF group than in the laser group (P=0.045). Multivariable analysis did not find any risk factors associated with visual acuity in our study.
CONCLUSION: In children with type 1 ROP, the better structural development of fovea in those who were treated with anti-VEGF injection compared with laser photocoagulation are identified. However, visual acuity outcomes are similar 70mo after the treatments.