Multicenter trial of cryotherapy for retinopathy of prematurity.

The multicenter trial of cryotherapy for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), whose preliminary results are reported in this issue of theArchives, 1 was designed to resolve the uncertainty about the value of treatment and to evaluate its drawbacks and possible benefits. Preliminary results weigh heavily in favor of treatment, and thus constitute an important contribution to the management of ROP, a disorder with the potential to blind many hundreds of premature infants each year. 2 See also pp 457 and 471. By comparing paired sample data from infants with symmetric disease and independent sample data from infants with asymmetric disease in 172 premature infants at 23 centers, the study confirmed that cryotherapy conferred a clear benefit at three months after treatment. The benefit represents an approximate 50% reduction in unfavorable events defined as the presence of a retinal fold, retinal detachment, or retrolental tissue (21.8% of the treated eyes vs

[1]  D. Phelps,et al.  Retinopathy of prematurity: an estimate of vision loss in the United States--1979. , 1981, Pediatrics.

[2]  J. Kingham.  Acute retrolental fibroplasia. II. Treatment by cryosurgery. , 1978, Archives of ophthalmology.

[3]  W. Haenszel,et al.  Statistical aspects of the analysis of data from retrospective studies of disease. , 1959, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[4]  Isaac Ben-Sira,et al.  Treatment of acute retrolental fibroplasia by cryopexy. , 1980, The British journal of ophthalmology.

[5]  K. Sasaki.  Treatment of retinopathy of prematurity in active stage by cryocautery , 1976 .

[6]  T. Hirose,et al.  An International Classification of Retinopathy of Prematurity: II. The Classification of Retinal Detachment , 1987 .

[7]  I. Nissenkorn,et al.  Retinopathy of prematurity: incidence and treatment. , 1985, Archives of disease in childhood.

[8]  Isaac Ben-Sira,et al.  An international classification of retinopathy of prematurity. Clinical experience. , 1985, Ophthalmology.

[9]  N. Warren Hindle.  Cryotherapy for retinopathy of prematurity to prevent retrolental fibroplasia. , 1982, Canadian journal of ophthalmology. Journal canadien d'ophtalmologie.

[10]  D. Mousel.  Cryotherapy for retinopathy of prematurity. A personal retrospective. , 1985, Ophthalmology.

[11]  D L DeMets,et al.  An aid to data monitoring in long-term clinical trials. , 1982, Controlled clinical trials.

[12]  F. Ingelfinger.  The randomized clinical trial. , 1972, The New England journal of medicine.

[13]  Isaac Ben-Sira,et al.  Long-term results of cryotherapy for active stages of retinopathy of prematurity. , 1986, Ophthalmology.

[14]  A. Patz,et al.  Treatment of acute proliferative retrolental fibroplasia. , 1972, Transactions - American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology. American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology.

[15]  C. Hoyt,et al.  Cryotherapy for retinopathy of prematurity. , 1980, Ophthalmology.