Cryocoagulation in the treatment of retinopathy of prematurity
Lomícková, H.; Zobanová, A.; Odehnal, M.; Zoban, P.; Michková, E.
Ceskoslovenska Oftalmologie 46(1): 1-8
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0009-059X PMID: 2334968 Document Number: 354029
The authors give an account on cryotherapy of retinopathies in the premature--130 eyes of 93 children treated during 1984-1988. Almost in all children cryocoagulation was made, using a transconjunctival approach, in the avascular periphery of the retina under local instillation anaesthesia. Twenty-eight eyes were coagulated already in stage 2 of the proliferative phase (along with the other more severely affected eye), the results being very satisfactory. In this stage, however, spontaneous regression cannot be ruled out. This is the reason why only 102 eyes were evaluated in detail, i.e. those coagulated in stage 3a and the latter were compared with findings in 90 eyes equally affected where cryocoagulation was not performed. In the group after coagulation 51% of the eyes had findings in stage I and II of the cicatricial phase with good and very good vision, in 17.6% the final finding is stage III with vision in the zone of visual debility and 31.4% of the eyes with findings stage IV and V are blind. In the group without coagulation there were 4.4% eyes in stage I and II, 28.9% eyes in stage III and 66.7% in stages IV and V. In eyes after coagulation the percentage of adverse results (31.4%) is by one half lower than in untreated eyes (66.7%).