Long-term macular vascular density measured by OCT-A in children with retinopathy of prematurity with and without need of laser treatment

Purpose: To assess long-term vascular density measured by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) in former preterm children with history of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) with and without need of laser treatment. Methods: This observational study included former preterm children that developed ROP stage 2 or 3. Infants were divided in two groups according to previous need of laser treatment, and underwent a complete ophthalmologic evaluation, including assessment of macular morphologic and vascular parameters by OCT-A. Results: Fifteen eyes were included in group 1 (laser-requiring ROP) and 19 in group 2 (non-treated ROP). Group 1 had lower mean gestational age and birth weight values than group 2 ( p −1, p = 0.05; 13.74 ± 1.00 vs 15.86 ± 0.64 mm−1, p = 0.05; respectively), and lower avascular zone circularity (0.58 ± 0.06 vs 0.76 ± 0.02, p Conclusion: Laser-requiring ROP seems to result in a decrease of long-term BCVA, which is at least partially attributed to a decrease in superficial macular vascular density. However, prematurity degree was more pronounced in children that required treatment, which might have influenced our results.