Preventative Strategies in the Management of ROP: A Review of Literature

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a potentially blinding eye disorder that primarily affects premature infants weighing 1250 grams or less that are born before 31 weeks of gestation. It is one of the most common causes of visual loss in childhood and can lead to lifelong vision impair-ment and blindness. Certain strategies for prevention have been confirmed by numerous trials, namely the role of oxygen therapy as an independent risk factor for the development of ROP and the benefits of strict control of premature infant oxygen saturations in the NICU. There is valuable data that supports use of other approaches, such as beta adrenergic blockade and IGF-1 supple-mentation, for which clinical trials are still in the works to establish clear protocols for their clini-cal use. Supplementation with vitamin A, omega-3 fatty acids, and inositol are all exciting arenas for further trials as preliminary data shows promising results in ROP prevention. It has also been shown that the benefit of vitamin E is not worth the increased incidence of NEC and sepsis as po-tential side effects. Furthermore, while it was an interesting idea to use the chelator D-penicilla-mine as a preventative strategy for ROP, the results of multiple trials seemed to be equivocal. This brief review is not all-inclusive, as there are many more modes of prevention currently being stu-died