Medical and developmental outcomes of bevacizumab versus laser for retinopathy of prematurity

Background Infants with stage 3+ retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in zone I or zone II posterior were randomized to initial treatment with bevacizumab or laser in a multicenter trial (BEAT-ROP). The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of bevacizumab on nonophthalmologic outcomes. Methods At one study site, inborn infants of Results Of the 18 infants enrolled at our site, 16 (7 bevacizumab, 9 laser) were evaluated for medical and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 18-28 months' corrected age. For each of the groups, the medians and ranges of growth percentiles were low compared with norms for healthy infants. The ranges for Bayley III developmental scores were also low relative to expected norms for healthy infants. There were no significant differences between the bevacizumab and laser therapy groups in weight (median percentile: bevacizumab, 18; laser, 7), length, head circumference, cerebral palsy, or Bayley scores (median Cognitive Composite Score: bevacizumab, 85; laser, 65). There was a significant difference in length of hospital stay (median days, 98 vs 140 days) favoring the bevacizumab group. Conclusions In this patient cohort 2-year follow-up evaluation of infants treated with bevacizumab versus laser therapy for retinopathy of prematurity showed no adverse effects on medical or neurodevelopmental outcomes.