Treatment outcome in fellow eyes after laser photocoagulation for retinopathy of prematurity

PURPOSE: To determine the concordance in structural outcome between fellow eyes in patients undergoing diode laser peripheral retinal photocoagulation for threshold retinopathy of prematurity. METHODS: Records from 103 patients undergoing bilateral diode laser peripheral retinal photocoagulation for retinopathy of prematurity at three academic medical centers were reviewed. Information regarding infant gestational ages, birth weights, characteristics of retinopathy of prematurity, laser treatment variables, complications, and structural outcomes were obtained. The data were analyzed to determine the rate of successful structural outcomes among all eyes as well as the interocular outcome concordance. RESULTS: A successful structural outcome was observed in 182 (88%) of the 206 eyes. Eighty-eight patients (85.4%) had bilateral favorable outcomes, Nine patients (8.7%) had bilateral unfavorable outcomes, and six patients (5.8%) had one favorable and one unfavorable eye. The outcome was concordant between fellow eyes in 94.2% of patients. This rate was higher than predicted if fellow-eye outcomes were truly independent (P < .00001) and did not depend on study center, laser settings, or location of the retinopathy of prematurity. Serious complications related to treatment were uncommon. CONCLUSIONS: Diode laser peripheral retinal photocoagulation is a safe and effective procedure for heating threshold retinopathy of prematurity. The concordance of structural outcomes between fellow eyes is higher than expected by chance and suggests that patient-specific factors play a key role in treatment response. (C) 1999 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.