Myopia, visual acuity and strabismus in the long term following treatment of retinopathy of prematurity

The purpose of this retrospective study is to evaluate the long-term ophthalmological outcome in children with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) who were treated for threshold disease with indirect laser photocoagulation. 107 eyes of 56 patients with threshold ROP treated with indirect laser photocoagulation and 202 eyes of 101 control patients with spontaneously regressed ROP were included. Fixation pattern, ocular motility findings, visual acuity, anterior segment examination, cycloplegic refraction and indirect ophthalmoscopic dilated fundus examination findings of all the included subjects were recorded. The incidence of unfavorable visual outcome defined as Snellen acuity of < 0.2, esotropia, strabismus surgery, nystagmus, myopia (>= -0.50 D) and astigmatism (>= 1.50 D) was significantly higher in the treated group than in the control group. These results indicate that premature babies with threshold ROP treated with indirect laser photocoagulation require frequent and long-term follow-up in order to determine refractive status and the presence of ocular motility disorders over time.