UK retinopathy of prematurity treatment survey

Background Since the CRYO-ROP study showed the benefit of treating babies with ROP, a number of different treatment modalities have become available. Solid-state lasers have been extensively used in the treatment of ROP since their introduction some 10 years ago. Diode, argon and frequency-doubled YAG (FD-YAG) lasers have all been used to perform photocoagulation in ROP. We aimed to assess current treatment practices of ROP treatment in the UK. Methods A questionnaire survey was performed in June 2004 and sent to all consultants known to be involved in the treatment or screening of ROP patients. We asked about the number of patients treated in the last year, the treatment method, and whether there had been any serious complications. Results In all, 53 questionnaires were sent out, of which 42 were returned. Also, 30 respondents treated ROP. Of these 19 used transpupillary diode, 11 argon, and three FD-YAG. Cryotherapy and transscleral diode laser were used by two centres in particular cases. In all, 20 patients were treated with FD-YAG, 21 with argon laser, and 188 with diode laser. The number of bums per eye varied from 800 to 2500. Reported complications included hyphaema, retinal haemorrhage, and acute cataract formation; however, there was no significant difference in complications between different types of laser used. Discussion This survey of laser use in the treatment of ROP has shown that diode laser is now the most common mode of treatment in the UK. The incidence of complications was similar for centres using argon, diode, or FD-YAG laser.