Effect of Ranibizumab in Patients with Treatment-Naïve Retinopathy of Prematurity

To determine the effect of intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) in patients with treatment-naïve retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in terms of disease regression and need for rescue therapy.

This study evaluated disease regression and rescue therapy requirement in treatment-naïve ROP cases treated with IVR. Among 188 screened patients, 80 had ROP. Thirty-eight patients (76 eyes) with type 1 ROP and aggressive ROP (AROP) were included. Treatment involved a single dose of 0.2 mg ranibizumab injected under aseptic conditions. Patients were monitored post-treatment for up to 6 months. Recurrence of disease was managed with argon laser photocoagulation targeting the peripheral avascular retina. Data analysis utilized t-tests for continuous variables and χ² tests for categorical data, with a significance threshold of p<0.05.

The study included 19 males and 19 females, with 56 eyes having AROP and 20 eyes with type 1 ROP. All AROP cases required rescue therapy, with a mean interval of 3.43±0.84 weeks between treatments. Sixty percent of type 1 ROP eyes also needed laser therapy. While type 1 ROP cases had slightly higher gestational age and lower birth weight compared to AROP, these differences were not statistically significant (p=0.081 and p=0.27, respectively). However, the interval between treatments was significantly longer in type 1 ROP than in AROP (p=0.0016).

Ranibizumab demonstrated effectiveness in initial disease regression but was linked to reactivation in all AROP and 60% of type 1 ROP cases, highlighting the importance of more frequent follow-ups after ranibizumab injection, particularly for AROP patients.