The Incidence of Treatment-Requiring Retinopathy of Prematurity in Greece: A Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study.

Abstract

Purpose: To report the incidence of treatment-requiring retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in Greece at a national level.

Methods: Multicenter prospective cohort study of infants that required treatment for ROP at any unit in Greece between June 1^st, 2020, and May 31^st, 2021. Twelve out of the 13 invited centers contributed their data. Collected parameters included infants' demographics, ROP examination findings prior to treatment, and treatment characteristics.

Results: The overall incidence of treatment-requiring ROP (TR-ROP) was 3.8%, given the fact that 1133 live births of infants with GA <32 weeks and/or BW < 1501 g were reported during the study period. Median (range) gestational age and birth weight of treated infants were 26.9 (23.4-33.0) weeks and 850 (500-2370) g, respectively, and 55.8% were male. The most prevalent ROP severity among treated infants was type 1 ROP (70 eyes), followed by type 2 ROP (8 eyes) and aggressive ROP (6 eyes). Laser photocoagulation (69.8%) was the predominant treatment modality used vs intravitreal anti-VEGF injections (30.2%). The median postnatal age at initial treatment was 9.6 weeks (range 5.6-21.7). Re-treatment rate was 30.2% and was higher among infants treated with anti-VEGF (69.2%) vs laser (13.3%). Treatment failure was reported in one case (progression to stage 4B in one eye and stage 5 in the other), whereas ROP regressed in all other patients.

Conclusion: This is the first study to report TR-ROP incidence in Greece, treated infants' characteristics at a national level, preferred practice patterns, failure rate and recurrence rate at 6 months from initial treatment.