Refractive errors after the use of bevacizumab for the treatment of retinopathy of prematurity: 2-year outcomes

Purpose To evaluate the refractive outcomes in children treated after intravitreal injection of bevacizumab (IVB) for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Methods A retrospective, bi-centre study of 34 patients (64 eyes) was conducted. The patients were divided into three groups, patients received intravitreal IVB (IVB group), patients received combined IVB and laser treatment (IVB+Laser group), or patients received lens-sparing vitrectomy (IVB+LSV group). Cycloplegic refraction and axial length (AXL) were evaluated at 2 years old. Results The prevalences of myopia and high myopia were 47.5 and 10.0% in the IVB group, respectively, which were lower than those in the IVB+Laser (82.4 and 29.4%) and IVB+LSV (all 100%) groups (P = 0.001 and P<0.001). The prevalences of emmetropia in the IVB group, IVB+Laser group, and IVB+LSV group were 50, 5.9, and 0% (P = 0.001). The AXL were similar among all groups. Conclusions At the 2-year follow-up, severe ROP patients treated with IVB alone were more likely to remain emmetropic and had lower prevalences of myopia and high myopia. The development of high myopia in severe ROP patients could not be explained by AXL changes but may be associated with abnormalities in the anterior segment.