How to treat retinopathy of prematurity and what causes it

Good vision is the key to a baby's growth. Parents should pay special attention to the baby's eye health and not let go of any small problems. So how to treat retinopathy of prematurity and what causes it?

Causes of retinopathy of prematurity

This is an eye disease that occurs in premature infants. The medical community believes that it may be related to premature birth and the oxygen concentration in the incubator. Before 1970, it was generally believed that it was caused by the high concentration of oxygen that the baby breathed in the incubator. However, after fine-tuning the oxygen concentration, it was found that in addition to the high concentration of oxygen, it seemed to be related to the maturity of the retina, so premature birth was considered the main cause of the disease. Premature birth hinders the growth of blood vessels, and the high concentration of oxygen in the incubator causes the blood vessels on the immature retina to contract and block, resulting in abnormal vascular proliferation and fibrous tissue. The blood vessels on the nasal side of the human eye retina are fully formed at about eight months of pregnancy, but the blood vessels on the temporal side are fully grown after birth. Therefore, retinopathy of prematurity mainly affects the temporal retina. This new blood vessel is very fragile and prone to bleeding. When the vitreous hemorrhage fibrosis, it will cause traction retinopathy.

How to treat retinopathy of prematurity

Because during the care of premature babies, pediatric intensive care units generally ask ophthalmologists to perform regular retinopathy screening, so most retinopathy of prematurity is detected in the early stages.

For premature infants who meet the treatment criteria, there are currently two treatment options, namely retinal cryotherapy and retinal laser therapy. The principle of treatment is to apply cryotherapy or laser therapy to the peripheral retina of the diseased eye where there is no blood vessel growth.

According to statistics, retinal cryotherapy can effectively reduce the rate of severe vision loss by more than half. Retinal laser therapy is a recently adopted treatment method that not only inhibits retinopathy of prematurity, but also has the same effect as retinal cryotherapy.

The most important advantage is that during the implementation, the treatment of the posterior pole is more convenient, the eye is less damaged, and the patient's pain is greatly reduced. Because of early detection and early treatment, there are now very few cases of retinopathy of prematurity that progress to the late stage.

If the retinal detachment unfortunately progresses to stage IV or V, vitrectomy or scleral buckling must be performed to reattach the detached retina.

Retinopathy of prematurity stages

The first stage of the disease is characterized by the formation of a thin white line that separates the blood vessel-free part of the front of the retina from the blood vessel-containing part of the back, causing the blood vessels near the dividing line to become obstructed and excessively branched.

The second stage of the lesion is that the white lines become wider and higher, and then form pink protrusions. The blood vessels on the retina grow into the protrusions, and retinal detachment is not caused at this time.

The third stage of the disease is the proliferation of new blood vessels in the protrusion to the outside of the retina and fibrosis, and the vitreous gradually becomes turbid.

The fourth stage of the disease is due to the traction of the retina by the proliferation of new blood vessels and fibrosis on the retina, resulting in partial retinal detachment and scar tissue.

Stage V disease refers to the progression of the disease to complete retinal detachment.