Long-term macular vascular density measured by OCT-A in children with retinopathy of prematurity with and without need of laser treatment

Purpose: To assess long-term vascular density measured by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) in former preterm children with history of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) with and without need of laser treatment. Methods: This observational study included former preterm children that developed ROP stage 2 or 3. Infants were divided in two groups according to previous need of laser treatment, and underwent a complete ophthalmologic evaluation, including assessment of macular morphologic and vascular parameters by OCT-A. Results: Fifteen eyes were included in group 1 (laser-requiring ROP) and 19 in group 2 (non-treated ROP). Group 1 had lower mean gestational age and birth weight values than group 2 (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was lower in group 1 (0.08 +/- 0.04 logMAR vs 0.04 +/- 0.07 logMAR, p = 0.03). Laser-requiring ROP had lower vascular parameters, especially of central and internal vascular density (9.15 +/- 2.75 vs 10.52 +/- 0.86 mm(-1), p = 0.05; 13.74 +/- 1.00 vs 15.86 +/- 0.64 mm(-1), p = 0.05; respectively), and lower avascular zone circularity (0.58 +/- 0.06 vs 0.76 +/- 0.02, p < 0.001). Mean macular thickness was higher in group 1 (300.50 +/- 10.50 vs 281.11 +/- 2.50 mu m, p = 0.05). Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was correlated with superficial vascular density (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Laser-requiring ROP seems to result in a decrease of long-term BCVA, which is at least partially attributed to a decrease in superficial macular vascular density. However, prematurity degree was more pronounced in children that required treatment, which might have influenced our results.