In the study "Posterior Pole Vascular Changes Before Treatment of Retinopathy of Prematurity" published today in JAMA Ophthalmology, lead author, S. Grace Prakalapakorn, MD, MPH, et al, set out to answer the question "When an infant was determined to need treatment for retinopathy of prematurity, what vascular characteristics were present, and how many days passed from the last examination when vessels were normal bilaterally?"
In this study of 55 infants treated for retinopathy of prematurity, when a decision was made to treat, all but 1 infant had preplus or plus disease, and at least 7 days had passed since the vessels were noted to be normal in 54 infants.
These findings suggest that when imaging to screen for retinopathy of prematurity if the field of view includes all of zone I and imaging is performed weekly, imaging is unlikely to miss retinopathy of prematurity that requires treatment.