A study on clinical outcomes of laser photocoagulation for retinopathy of prematurity

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), is a vaso-proliferative disorder of premature infants, especially in those exposed to high concentration of oxygen.

To analyse the outcomes of laser photocoagulation in ROP.

This is a Prospective interventional study of infants admitted in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), who were less than 1.5 kilograms weight, less than 32 weeks of gestation, and high risk preterm infants outside this criteria were also included. The infants examined were grouped according to whether they required follow up observation or 532 nm Nd: YAG laser therapy using indirect ophthalmoscopy.

73(36.14%) babies had ROP. 17 (23.28%) required laser treatment. 14 (82.35%) babies treated with laser recovered whereas 3(17.64%) progressed.

Pre threshold and threshold ROP, have responded very well to laser treatment, reinforcing the need for timely screening and intervention. The use of 532nm laser with good outcome in our study shows its efficacy which is comparable to diode laser.