Changes in the Management of Extremely Preterm Infants Before and After the Introduction of Intravitreal Ranibizumab Injection for Retinopathy of Prematurity

Abstract

 Intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF antibody ranibizumab（IVR）was introduced at our institution in 2019 for the treatment of retinopathy of prematurity（ROP）. Compared to conventional retinal photocoagulation（PC）, IVR has a higher recurrence rate and requires longer follow-up. This study retrospectively analyzed 63 ROP cases admitted to our NICU between January 2018 and March 2022 to assess the impact of IVR introduction on NICU management. Initial treatments included 18 cases（29％）in the PC group and 15 cases（24％）in the IVR group, which was further divided into the IVR-alone group（12 cases）and the IVR ＋ PC group（3 cases）. The IVR-alone group had a significantly longer hospital stay than the PC group, whereas the IVR ＋ PC group had a hospital stay comparable to the PC group. While IVR alone requires prolonged hospitalization for retinal vascularization monitoring, the addition of PC at an appropriate time may facilitate earlier discharge. IVR ＋ PC may be a viable treatment option, but further studies are needed to assess long-term outcomes.