Editorial on ‘Hyperglycemia, insulin and slower growth velocity may increase the risk of retinopathy of prematurity’ Kaempf JW et al.

Hellström, Ann; Al, Hård

doi:10.1038/jp.2010.158

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 13 publications

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“…It was generally shown that very low birth weight infants can tolerate increased rates of infusion of intravenous fat emulsion solutions from the first week without severe side effects 77. The goal of reducing ROP through this measure has only been partially reached perhaps because of the difficulty in maintaining this regimen 78,79. Another study recommended a more aggressive nutrition practice in the NICUs, which was adopted by some neonatologists 80.…”

Section: Risk Factors For Ropmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retinopathy of prematurity: the need for prevention

Liegl¹,

Hellström²,

Smith³

2016

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More than 450,000 babies are born prematurely in the USA every year. The improved survival of even the most vulnerable low body weight preterm infants has, despite improving health outcomes, led to the resurgence in preterm complications including one of the major causes for blindness in children, retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). The current mainstay in ROP therapy is laser photocoagulation and the injection of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibodies in the late stages of the disease after the onset of neovascularization. Both are proven options for ophthalmologists to treat the severe forms of late ROP. However, laser photocoagulation destroys major parts of the retina, and the injection of VEGF antibodies, although rather simple to administer, may cause a systemic suppression of normal vascularization, which has not been studied in sufficient depth. However, the use of neither VEGF antibody nor laser treatment prevents ROP, which should be the long-term goal. It should be possible to prevent ROP by more closely mimicking the intrauterine environment after preterm birth. Such preventive measures include preventing the toxic postbirth influences (eg, oxygen excess) as well as providing the missing intrauterine factors (eg, insulin growth factor 1) and are likely to also reduce other complications of premature birth as well as ROP. This review is meant to summarize the current knowledge on the prevention of ROP with a particular emphasize on the use of insulin growth factor 1 supplementation.

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