PurposeTo identify the risk factors for, and clinical features and treatment outcomes of aggressive posterior retinopathy of prematurity (APROP) in Korean infants.MethodsAmong 770 premature infants who underwent screening, 105 infants (198 eyes, 13.63%) received treatment for ROP. A total of 24 infants (48 eyes, 3.12%) developed APROP while 81 infants (150 eyes, 10.52%) developed non-APROP treatment-requiring type. The medical records of ROP-treated infants were reviewed retrospectively. The associated systemic and maternal risk factors were analyzed and anatomical outcomes were compared according to the severity of ROP and treatment modalities.ResultsThe mean gestational age and birth weight at birth in the APROP group were significantly lower than those in the non-APROP group (P=0.019, P<0.001, respectively). Infants who were born small for their GA developed APROP more frequently than non-APROP patients (P<0.001). Chorioamnionitis-positive infants also showed higher incidence rate of APROP (APROP vs non-APROP; P<0.001 and zone I APROP vs posterior zone II APROP; P=0.036, respectively). Infants with APROP required heavier laser treatment with a higher retreatment rate compared to infants with non-APROP. Favorable anatomical outcomes were achieved in 95.3% from treatment-requiring non-APROP group, 85.7% from zone I APROP and 84.6% from posterior zone II APROP group.ConclusionIntrauterine growth restriction and chorioamnionitis were associated with development of APROP. These findings suggest that perinatal maternal environment inhibiting normal retinal vascular growth in utero may contribute to increasing the risk of APROP in premature infants.

Myopia is rapidly increasing in young populations and patients with glaucoma associated with myopia are reported to be young aged in East Asia. These young patients have a longer life expectancy, which increases their risk of end-of-life visual disabilities. There is a need to understand the clinical course of myopic glaucoma patients, which may be important for the care of these myopic populations. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between the age at presentation and the rate of glaucoma progression in the visual field (VF) according to the presence of myopia. The study was conducted as a prospective observational study including 179 patients with open-angle glaucoma who had undergone at least 5 VF examinations with a follow-up of at least 5 years. The progression rate of the mean deviation (MD) and the pattern standard deviation (PSD) are expressed as change in decibels (dB) per year. The slopes of the MD and PSD were calculated by linear regression analyses. Factors related to the slope of VF MD changes were analyzed with correlation and regression analyses. The slope of the linear fit line plotted against age at presentation and the rate of change in the VF MD was −0.026 (P < 0.001) in the myopic group and −0.008 (P = 0.167) in the nonmyopic group; the relationship was more prominent in the myopic group than the nonmyopic group. In the myopic group, age (β = −0.417; 95% confidence intervals (CI), −0.651 to −0.200; P = 0.050) and baseline untreated intraocular pressure (β = −0.179; 95% CI, −0.331 to −0.028; P = 0.022) were significantly related to the rate of change in the MD, which was only the presence of disc hemorrhage (β = −0.335; 95% CI, −0.568 to −0.018; P = 0.022) in the nonmyopic group. Age at presentation was significantly related to the rate of change in the VF in glaucomatous eyes with myopia compared to eyes without myopia. Older age was significantly related to the rate of change in the VF only in myopic glaucomatous eyes.