Study identifies vascular abnormalities in aggressive posterior retinopathy of prematurity

Researchers retrospectively evaluated fluorescein angiography (FA) images from three patients (six eyes) with aggressive posterior retinopathy of prematurity (AP-ROP). At the initial stage of AP-ROP, FA showed vascular abnormalities, including capillary nonperfusion throughout the vascularized retina, shunting in the vascularized retina, a circumferential demarcation line and limited vessel development. After laser or surgical treatment, FA demonstrated poorly developed retinal vessels, including four small major vessels without an arcade pattern, small macular vessels, an inhomogeneous capillary bed and absence of a capillary-free zone in the fovea. Although the visual prognosis in AP-ROP improved with early vitreous surgery, once the developing vasculature is damaged, it may never recover, conclude the authors.