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Analysis of Cochrane Systematic Reviews about retinopathy of prematurity

Análise das Revisões Sistemáticas da Cochrane sobre retinopatia da prematuridade

ABSTRACT

Background:

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a vasoproliferative retinal disorder that affects extremely premature infants and is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in childhood.

Objective:

This study presents a review of Cochrane systematic reviews about ROP.

Methods:

We analyzed and summarized the results of all intervention, prevention and treatment, from Cochrane Systematic Reviews (SR) for ROP designed to the highest standard of rigor to show the current position and propose studies that are missing for decision making.

Results:

Eight SR were analyzed in this study, four in prophylaxis and four in treatment of ROP. The outcome 'Beneficial effect of oral beta-blockers on progression to stage 3 ROP but not to stage 2 ROP with plus disease or to stage 4 or 5 ROP was the only one that presented moderate evidence quality, all the others outcomes presented evidence quality floating from low to very low.

Conclusion:

There is a lack of studies showing the quality of evidence in the treatment and prevention of retinopathy of prematurity, particularly in long-term outcomes after treatment in order to assess the impact and quality of life of these patients.

Keywords:
Retinopathy of prematurity; Therapeutics; Prophylaxis; Evidence-based practice; Evidence-based medicine

RESUMO

Introdução:

A retinopatia da prematuridade (ROP) é um distúrbio vasoproliferativo da retina que afeta recém nascidos extremamente prematuros e é a principal causa de cegueira irreversível na infância.

Objetivo:

Este estudo apresenta uma revisão das revisões sistemáticas da Cochrane sobre ROP.

Métodos:

Analisamos e resumimos os resultados de todas as intervenções, prevenção e tratamento, das revisões sistemáticas (SR) da Cochrane para ROP, projetada com o mais alto padrão de rigor para mostrar a posição atual e propor estudos que estão faltando para a tomada de decisão.

Resultados:

Oito RS foram analisados neste estudo, quatro em profilaxia e quatro em tratamento de ROP. O efeito benéfico dos betabloqueadores orais na progressão para a ROP do estágio 3, mas não para a ROP da fase 2 com doença positiva ou para a ROP da fase 4 ou 5 foi o único que apresentou qualidade de evidência moderada, todos os outros resultados apresentaram qualidade de evidência flutuante de baixo a muito baixo.

Conclusão:

Faltam estudos demonstrando a qualidade das evidências no tratamento e prevenção da retinopatia da prematuridade, principalmente em desfechos em longo prazo após o tratamento, a fim de avaliar o impacto e a qualidade de vida desses pacientes.

Descritores:
Retinopatia da prematuridade; Terapêutica; Profilaxia; Prática baseada em evidências; Medicina baseada em evidências

INTRODUCTION

t is estimated that the incidence of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is around 33.9%(11 Freitas AM, Mörschbächer R, Thorell MR, Rhoden EL. Incidence and risk factors for retinopathy of prematurity: a retrospective cohort study. Int J Retina Vitreous. 2018;4(1):20.) to 59%(22 Stoll BJ, Hansen NI, Bell EF, Shankaran S, Laptook AR, Walsh MC, et al.; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network. Neonatal outcomes of extremely preterm infants from the NICHD Neonatal Research Network. Pediatrics. 2010;126(3):443-56.) in premature and the severe form of the disease revolves around 0 to 44.9%(33 Zin A, Gole GA. Retinopathy of prematurity-incidence today. Clin Perinatol. 2013;40(2):185-200.), depending on the population studied, gestation time, time of survival of the preterm infant. This incidence should increase with the increase in the number of high-risk pregnancies and the improvement of the resources to give survival to the premature that increase the chance to develop the ROP.

ROP is a retinal neovascular disorder that primarily affects premature newborn infants. There is a difference between countries regarding the ROP screening, but the International Classification recommend the examination of infants with birth weights less than or equal to 1250 grams or less than 31 weeks of gestation.(44 An International Classification of Retinopathy of Prematurity. Pediatrics. 1984;74:127-33.)

The stages of the disease are classified by the location (zones 1 to 3), severity (stages 1 to 5) and presence or absence of venous dilatation and arteriolar tortuosity (plus disease).(55 CRYO-ROP Cooperative Group. Multicentre trial of cryotherapy for retinopathy of prematurity. Arch Ophthalmol. 1988;106(4):471-9.) Also, infants can be classified as having pre-threshold disease (zone 1 disease of any stage or zone 2, stage 2 with plus disease or zone 2, stage 3) or threshold disease (five contiguous or eight cumulative clock hours of stage 3, in zone 1 or 2 with plus disease).(66 Early Treatment For Retinopathy Of Prematurity Cooperative Group. Revised indications for the treatment of retinopathy of prematurity: results of the early treatment for retinopathy of prematurity randomized trial. Arch Ophthalmol. 2003;121(12):1684-94.) This classification is very important and necessary to define the most appropriate treatment.

Laser photocoagulation became the primary ROP treatment modality in the 1990s and is reportedly effective in more than 90% of ROP cases.(55 CRYO-ROP Cooperative Group. Multicentre trial of cryotherapy for retinopathy of prematurity. Arch Ophthalmol. 1988;106(4):471-9.,66 Early Treatment For Retinopathy Of Prematurity Cooperative Group. Revised indications for the treatment of retinopathy of prematurity: results of the early treatment for retinopathy of prematurity randomized trial. Arch Ophthalmol. 2003;121(12):1684-94.) In the past decade, intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has become increasingly popular in ROP treatment because of perceived advantages over laser photocoagulation, including less stress to the treated infant, more rapid improvement of tunica vasculosa lentis and plus disease, reduced future myopia, and possibly better peripheral vision.(77 VanderVeen DK, Melia M, Yang MB, Hutchinson AK, Wilson LB, Lambert SR. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy for primary treatment of type 1 retinopathy of prematurity: areport by the American academy of ophthalmology. Ophthalmology. 2017;124(5):619-33.) However, evidence to guide clinicians on the time course of recurrence, risk factors for ROP recurrence, and overall prognosis after treatment for ROP is scarce.

Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the evidence from Cochrane Systematic Reviews regarding the effectiveness and safety of prevention and treatments of ROP, the highest level of evidence made by the most appropriate methodology.

METHODS

This is a review of Cochrane Systematic Reviews in Retinopathy of Prematurity, designed and executed according to the highest standard of rigor to determine the current position for decision making. It was conducted in the Ophthalmology Service of Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Brazil.

We only included the last version of completed Cochrane Systematic Reviews that evaluated all the parameters in prevention and treatment of ROP. There was no restriction to the date of publication. The protocols of SR in progress, empty SR and withdrawn SR were not considered.

It includes participants with ROP or risk to develop ROP and all types of prevention and treatment of ROP.

We carried out an electronic sensitive search strategy in the Cochrane Library (via Wiley) on March 27, 2020 as presented in table 1.

Table 1
Search strategy in the Cochrane Library

The researchers independently selected and evaluated all the titles and abstracts of records that had initially been retrieved on the basis of the inclusion criteria in order to confirm their eligibility, in accordance with the inclusion criteria. The full texts of records with the potential for inclusion were read to confirm whether they should be included.

We presented all the included reviews in a qualitative synthesis considering the respective PICO (population, intervention, comparator and outcomes), SR methods, quality of evidence and its implications.

RESULTS

Search results

We found 62 systematic reviews (SR) with the strategy search, seven fulfilled the inclusion criterias(88 Kaempfen S, Neumann RP, Jost K, Schulzke SM. Beta-blockers for prevention and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Mar;3:CD011893.

9 Sankar MJ, Sankar J, Chandra P. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs for treatment of retinopathy of prematurity. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Jan;1:CD009734.

10 Qureshi MJ, Kumar M. D-Penicillamine for preventing retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Sep;9(9):CD001073.

11 Jorge EC, Jorge EN, El Dib RP. Early light reduction for preventing retinopathy of prematurity in very low birth weight infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Aug;8(8):CD000122.

12 Dempsey E, McCreery K. Local anaesthetic eye drops for prevention of pain in preterm infants undergoing screening for retinopathy of prematurity. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011 Sep;9(9):CD007645.

13 Lloyd J, Askie L, Smith J, Tarnow-Mordi W. Supplemental oxygen for the treatment of prethreshold retinopathy of prematurity. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;2(2):CD003482.
-1414 Andersen CC, Phelps DL. Peripheral retinal ablation for threshold retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2000;3(2):CD001693.) and were included in this overview. Four SR(88 Kaempfen S, Neumann RP, Jost K, Schulzke SM. Beta-blockers for prevention and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Mar;3:CD011893.,1010 Qureshi MJ, Kumar M. D-Penicillamine for preventing retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Sep;9(9):CD001073.,1111 Jorge EC, Jorge EN, El Dib RP. Early light reduction for preventing retinopathy of prematurity in very low birth weight infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Aug;8(8):CD000122.,1212 Dempsey E, McCreery K. Local anaesthetic eye drops for prevention of pain in preterm infants undergoing screening for retinopathy of prematurity. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011 Sep;9(9):CD007645.) approach to prophylaxis for ROP and four SR(88 Kaempfen S, Neumann RP, Jost K, Schulzke SM. Beta-blockers for prevention and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Mar;3:CD011893.,99 Sankar MJ, Sankar J, Chandra P. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs for treatment of retinopathy of prematurity. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Jan;1:CD009734.,1313 Lloyd J, Askie L, Smith J, Tarnow-Mordi W. Supplemental oxygen for the treatment of prethreshold retinopathy of prematurity. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;2(2):CD003482.,1414 Andersen CC, Phelps DL. Peripheral retinal ablation for threshold retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2000;3(2):CD001693.) approach the treatment for ROP as summarized in table 2 and a brief narrative synthesis of each SR is presented below. The quality of evidence of the outcomes assessed by GRADE(1515 Guyatt GH, Oxman AD, Vist GE, Kunz R, Falck-Ytter Y, Alonso-Coello P, et al.; GRADE Working Group. GRADE: an emerging consensus on rating quality of evidence and strength of recommendations. BMJ. 2008;336(7650):924-6.) whenever it is presented by the review author both in table as in narrative synthesis.

Table 2
Summary of findings

Prevention of Retinopathy of Prematurity

Beta-blockers (88 Kaempfen S, Neumann RP, Jost K, Schulzke SM. Beta-blockers for prevention and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Mar;3:CD011893.)

Different experimental models showed a decrease in β-adrenergic function that can result in a reduction or exacerbation of vascular changes. Thus beta-blockers can act to inhibit vascular proliferation in retinal vascular diseases. (1616 Casini G, Dal Monte M, Fornaciari I, Filippi L, Bagnoli P. The β-adrenergic system as a possible new target for pharmacologic treatment of neovascular retinal diseases. Prog Retin Eye Res. 2014;42:103-29.)

Three RCT (randomized clinical trials) (N = 366), two studies with high risk of bias, that used propranolol versus placebo or no treatment as prophylaxis in preterm infants without ROP, stage 1 ROP (zone I), or stage 2 ROP (zone II) without plus disease in preterm neonates of less than 37 weeks' gestational age.

• Beta-blockers for prevention of ROP showed relative risk (RR) 0.32, 95% CI (0.12 to 0.86) in rescue treatment with anti VEGF but for primary prophylaxis (no meta analysis) RR 0.25, 95% CI (0.05 to 1.10) and for secondary prophylaxis (two trials) RR 0.41, 95% CI 0.11 to 1.50 it was not showed statistically significant.

• For prevention with laser/cryo RR 0.54, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.89. For Primary prophylaxis in rescue treatment with laser or cryo (no meta analysis) RR 0.68, 95% CI [0.35 to 1.32] not significant but for secondary prophylaxis (two trials) RR 0.41, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.90 was significant.

• For progression to stage 2 ROP with plus disease RR 0.25, 95% [0.03-2.16] with low quality of evidence but was not statistically significant as well as stage 3 ROP RR 0.60, 95% [0.37-0.96] and for stage 4 or 5 ROP RR 0.11, 95% [0.01-1.96] with moderate quality for this outcomes.

• Nystagmus at six to 12 months' corrected age: RR 1.64, 95% [0.41-6.51] was not statistically significant.

• Refractive error at six to 12 months' corrected age RR 0.69, 95% [0.28-1.67] was not statistically significant.

Meta-analysis did not indicate complications of prematurity or mortality nor effects of beta-blockers as arterial hypotension or bradycardia, however, propranolol dosage in one study was reduced due to severe hypotension, bradycardia, and apnea in several participants. None of the trials reported on long-term visual impairment.

D-penicillamine (1010 Qureshi MJ, Kumar M. D-Penicillamine for preventing retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Sep;9(9):CD001073.)

D-penicillamine is a powerful antioxidant and vasomodulator that could act in vascular proliferation(1717 Beharry KD, Valencia GB, Lazzaro DR, Aranda JV. Pharmacologic interventions for the prevention and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity. Semin Perinatol. 2016;40(3):189-202.).

In the meta-analysis, three RCT were found for infants under 1500g birth weight, but with no significant difference. The grade of evidence was not related and both results were not statistically significant.

• Developing any ROP in the D-penicillamine group: RR 0.32, 95% CI (0.03 to 3.70)

• Severe ROP: 0.69, 95% CI (0.11 to 4.22).

Early light reduction (1111 Jorge EC, Jorge EN, El Dib RP. Early light reduction for preventing retinopathy of prematurity in very low birth weight infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Aug;8(8):CD000122.)

In the past it was believed that the use of supplemental oxygen, excessive exposure to light and hypoxia were considered to be causes of ROP. Currently, it is known that ROP is a disease that presented vascular growth in premature infants due to relative hyperoxia in phase 1 (22 to 30 weeks postmenstrual age) and a decrease in levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) increase in VEGF concentrations to compensate for the hypoxic retina in phase 2 (31 to 44 weeks postmenstrual age).(1818 Hellstrom A, Perruzzi C, Ju M, Engstrom E, Hard AL, Liu JL, et al. Low IGF-I suppresses VEGF-survival signaling in retinal endothelial cells: direct correlation with clinical retinopathy of prematurity. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2001;98(10):5804-8.,1919 Smith LE. Pathogenesis of retinopathy of prematurity. Semin Neonatol. 2003;8(6):469-73.) Anyway we always look for prophylactic factors.

Four RCT (N=897) with reasonable methodological quality failed to show any reduction of early environmental light exposure among very low birth weight infants.

• Acute ROP infants < 2001 g birth weight showed RR 1.00, 95%CI (0.89, 1.13);

• Acute ROP infants < 1000 g birth weight showed RR 0.96 95%CI (0.82, 1.13);

• Acute ROP infants 1000 to 2000 g birth weight showed RR 1.00 95%CI (0.68, 1.49);

• Poor ROP all infants < 2001 g birth weight showed RR 1.13 95%CI (0.49 to 2.61);

• Poor ROP all infants < 1000 g birth weight showed RR 10.24 95%CI (0.51 to 203.83).

None of the outcomes were statistically significant nor significantly favorable to the intervention. The author concluded that bright light is not the cause of retinopathy of prematurity and that the reduction of exposure of the retina of premature infants to light has no effect on the incidence of the disease. However, the results were not statistically significant and the study did not present the summary of findings not allowing to evaluate the degree of evidence of the outcomes for the decision making.

There was no report on the secondary outcomes considered in this review: quality of life measures; and time of exposure to oxygen and the author does not describe the intensity or type of light assessed in this study.

Anaesthetic eye drops for prevention of pain during ophthalmological exam(1212 Dempsey E, McCreery K. Local anaesthetic eye drops for prevention of pain in preterm infants undergoing screening for retinopathy of prematurity. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011 Sep;9(9):CD007645.)

Topical anesthesia is a medication with little or no side effects that can prevent pain on the eye exam when positioning the eyelid speculum or at the time of scleral indentation because neonates and infants are at increased risk of experiencing moderate to severe pain during hospital care.(2020 Stevens BJ, Harrison D, Rashotte J, Yamada J, Abbott LK, Coburn G, et al.; CIHR Team in Children's Pain. Pain assessment and intensity in hospitalized children in Canada. J Pain. 2012;13(9):857-65.,2121 Groenewald CB, Rabbitts JA, Schroeder DR, Harrison TE. Prevalence of moderate-severe pain in hospitalized children. Paediatr Anaesth. 2012;22(7):661-8.)

Two RCT (N=124) evaluated pain using a PIPP (Premature Infant Pain Profile) (2222 Stevens B, Johnston C, Petryshen P, Taddio A. Premature Infant Pain Profile: development and initial validation. Clin J Pain. 1996;12(1):13-22.) scale in infants undergoing ROP screening.

• Non significant reduction in pain scores at one minute and a nonsignificant increase at five minutes. PIPP score> 12 in one minute resulted in a statistically significant reduction in the number of patients experiencing typical pain RR 0.56, 95% CI [0.36 to 0.89].

• When pain was defined as an increase in PIPP> 4, there was a statistically significant reduction in the number of patients experiencing pain in one minute RR 0.70, 95% CI [0.52 to 0.94].

The author concluded that the topical proparacaine 30 seconds prior to the ophthalmological evaluation was associated with a reduction in pain scores especially at the time of speculum insertion.

PIPP score interpretation(2222 Stevens B, Johnston C, Petryshen P, Taddio A. Premature Infant Pain Profile: development and initial validation. Clin J Pain. 1996;12(1):13-22.):

Scores of 0-6: generally indicate the infant has minimal or no pain.

Scores of 7-12: generally indicate slight to moderate pain.

Scores > 12: may indicate severe pain.

Treatment of Retinopathy of Prematurity

Beta-blockers (88 Kaempfen S, Neumann RP, Jost K, Schulzke SM. Beta-blockers for prevention and treatment of retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Mar;3:CD011893.)

Presented above as a prophylactic among the outcomes, the therapeutic part was analyzed.

• For progression to stage 2 ROP with plus disease RR 0.25, 95% [0.03-2.16] with low quality of evidence but was not statistically significant as well as stage 3 ROP RR 0.60, 95% [0.37-0.96] and for stage 4 or 5 ROP RR 0.11, 95% [0.01-1.96] with moderate quality for this outcomes.

Anti VEGF (99 Sankar MJ, Sankar J, Chandra P. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs for treatment of retinopathy of prematurity. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Jan;1:CD009734.)

More recently, because vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key factor in the progression of ROP, anti-VEGF agents have been used as a treatment modality. Currently, three anti-VEGF agents have been studied: Aflibercept (Eylea; Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc, Tarrytown, NY), Bevacizumab (Avastin; Genentech, South San Francisco, Calif., USA) and Ranibizumab (Lucentis; Genentech, San Francisco, Calif., USA).(2323 Hartnett ME, Penn JS. Mechanisms and management of retinopathy of prematurity. N Engl J Med. 2012;367(26):2515-26.,2424 Virgili G, Parravano M, Evans JR, Gordon I, Lucenteforte E. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor for diabetic macular oedema: a network meta-analysis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Oct;10:CD007419.)

Six RCT (N= 383) infants with type 1 ROP. Five RCT compared intravitreal bevacizumab (n = 4) or ranibizumab (n = 1) with conventional laser therapy (monotherapy), while the sixth study compared intravitreal pegaptanib plus conventional laser therapy with laser/cryotherapy (combination therapy).

• Bevacizumab/ranibizumab did not reduce the risk of complete or partial retinal detachment (3 studies; N=272) RR 1.04, 95% CI 0.21 to 5.13; very low-quality evidence. Subgroup analysis showed a significant reduction in the risk of recurrence in infants with zone I ROP (RR 0.15, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.62), but an increased risk of recurrence in infants with zone II ROP was not significant (RR 2.53, 95% CI 1.01 to 6.32). Significant increase in the risk of recurrence of ROP in the eyes that received bevacizumab (RR 5.36, 95% CI 1.22 to 23.50), but it was not statistically significant. Bevacizumab had a significantly lower risk of refractive errors (very high myopia) at 30 months of age (1 study; 211 eyes; RR 0.06, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.20; low-quality evidence).

• Association of laser / pegaptanib reduces the risk of retinal detachment when compared to laser/cryotherapy alone (152 eyes; RR 0.26, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.55; low-quality evidence). The incidence of recurrence of ROP by 55 weeks' postmenstrual age was also lower in the pegaptanib + laser therapy group (76 infants; RR 0.29, 95% CI 0.12 to 0.7; low-quality evidence)

• The risk of systemic adverse effects with any of the three anti-VEGF drugs is not known.

Supplemental oxygen (1313 Lloyd J, Askie L, Smith J, Tarnow-Mordi W. Supplemental oxygen for the treatment of prethreshold retinopathy of prematurity. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;2(2):CD003482.)

The ROP stage 3 with plus disease has been associated with supplemental oxygen administration since 1940(2525 Hartnett ME, Lane RH. Effects of oxygen on the development and severity of retinopathy of prematurity. J AAPOS. 2013;17(3):229-34.). The amount of oxygen babies receive in neonatal intensive care is very carefully monitored to try to lower the risk of ROP and limit the possibility of lung damage. One option is increasing the oxygen level to babies who are showing signs of worsening ROP. However, increased oxygen supplementation for babies with signs of worsening retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) may not prevent development of this eye disease, and may also lead to lung complications.

One trial included in this review (N= 649). Supplemental oxygen to reduce the progression to threshold ROP did not present statistical significance RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.70, 1.02. No significant effects were detected on blindness or severe visual function at three months corrected age, mortality, pneumonia, chronic lung disease or weight gain. Adverse pulmonary events, longer hospital stay and supplemental oxygen occurred in the higher oxygen saturation group and longer term visual outcomes were not reported. The degree of evidence was not shown.

Peripheral retinal ablation (1414 Andersen CC, Phelps DL. Peripheral retinal ablation for threshold retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2000;3(2):CD001693.)

The ablation of the ischemic part of the retina can be done through 2 techniques to preserve macular vision: the cryoablation and laser therapy.(2626 Suelves AM, Shulman JP. Current screening and treatments in retinopathy of prematurity in the US. Eye Brain. 2016;8:37-43.)

It is the most commonly used treatment to ROP and that technique emits beams of light over the pigmented epithelium cells of the retina, increasing the local temperature and causing coagulation and formation of the scar tissue by this abrasion, which helps to reduce the formation of blood vessels anomalous retina.(2727 Kozak I, Luttrull JK. Modern retinal laser therapy. Saudi J Ophthalmol. 2015;29(2):137-46.)

Two RCT showed that peripheral ablation reduces the risk of:

• early unfavorable retinal structure from RR 0.59 05% 0.47 to 0.74. (favorable to intervention with statistical significance)

• retinal structure in early childhood (5.5 yr) RR 0.81 95% CI 0.70 to 0.95. (favorable to intervention with statistical significance)

• unfavorable to visual acuity in early childhood RR -8.2 95% CI -12.31 to -4.14 (favorable to control). The degree of evidence was not shown.

DISCUSSION

In search of the best therapeutic and prophylactic evidence in ROP it was performed this review of Cochrane sistematic reviews. It was searched for reviews that would show the long-term vision, the field of view, the anatomical changes of the children undergoing at each treatment and we observed the absence of these outcomes.

On prevention the use of oral beta-blockers may reduce the risk of progression to ROP stage 3 (but not to stage 4 or 5 ROP) and reduce the risk of need for laser or anti-VEGF treatment, but RS found evidence of low to moderate quality of evidence, it means that future studies can change decision making. The clinical relevance of these findings is uncertain, as it did not show long term vision results. Serious adverse events attributed to propranolol cause concern as there is insufficient evidence to determine the efficacy and safety of oral beta-blockers for the prevention of ROP because of the high risk of bias in two of the three included trials and the lack of functional outcomes of long term. The author concludes not recommending the routine use of oral propranolol for prevention of ROP in preterm infants requiring more adequately designed studies for decision making.

In the use of D - penicillamine, although RS has not found advantages in the prophylactic administration in preterm infants because it does not prevent acute or severe ROP, death or delay of neurodevelopment, it shows biological evidence(2828 Matsubara T, Saura R, Hirohata K, Ziff M. Inhibition of human endothelial cell proliferation in vitro and neovascularization in vivo by D-penicillamine. J Clin Invest. 1989;83(1):158-67.

29 Saugstad OD, Hallman M, Abraham JL, Epstein B, Cochrane C, Gluck L. Hypoxanthine and oxygen induced lung injury: a possible basic mechanism of tissue damage? Pediatr Res. 1984;18(6):501-4.
-3030 Staite ND, Zoschke DC, Messner RP. Scavenging of hydrogen peroxide - a new mechanism of action for D-penicillamine in rheumatoid arthritis? N Engl J Med. 1984;311(8):538-9.) that justifies insinuation in properly designed clinical trials to guide future decision making. The same way the RS of early environmental light exposure failed to show that bright light is not the cause of retinopathy of prematurity and that the reduction of exposure of the retina of premature infants to light has no effect on the incidence of the disease. In RS about topical anesthesia while the administration of topical anesthesia showed an improvement in pain scores compared with placebo, but screening remains a painful procedure and the author concluded that multi-modal approach to eliminating pain is required. Also, future research needs to be directed towards the question of whether infants without plus disease are more likely to respond to supplemental oxygen therapy than those with plus disease.

Related to treatment, the SR about anti-VEGF, although satisfactory for some outcomes and not for others, the quality of evidence was very low to low for most due to the risk of detection bias and other biases. According to GRADE-Quality of evidence, low means that future research is very likely to have an important impact and could change the evidence and very low means that persist the uncertainty. The effects on other critical outcomes and, more importantly, on the long-term systemic adverse effects of drugs are not known. Insufficient data prevent strong conclusions that favor the routine use of intravitreal anti-VEGF agents - as monotherapy or in conjunction with laser therapy - in preterm infants with type 1 ROP.

Finally, there is a lack of studies with well-defined protocols to guide which patients would be most suitable for anti-VEGF therapy and in which situation the laser would be better used. And also, if the best approach would be the combination of drugs or monotherapy, what are the chances of recurrence in each type of treatment, long-term ocular and systemic side effects and what is the most appropriate follow-up time. In addition, more investigation into the most efficient drugs, optimal dose of the anti-VEGF medication for ROP is needed. Thus, further prospective studies with larger study populations are required to compare treatment options for ROP treatment.

CONCLUSION

This review found seven Cochrane systematic reviews that evaluated interventions for prevention or treatment of ROP. Whether due to the quality of evidence ranging from moderate to very low, either because of the lack of statistical significance of the meta-analyzes or because of the high risk of bias that some clinical trials present. All RS are unison in requesting studies with adequate designs addressing long-term outcomes term as visual acuity and in the short term requesting a confirmed assessment at the time of the examination and for adverse effects.

  • Funding: No specific financial support was available for this study.

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    21 Apr 2021
  • Date of issue
    Jan-Feb 2021

History

  • Received
    02 July 2020
  • Accepted
    06 Nov 2020
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