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

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). MATERIALS 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. CONCLUSION 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.