Promise and potential pitfalls of anti-VEGF drugs in retinopathy of prematurity

Only rarely does a new treatment offer a real sea change. An example in the field of neonatology is the use of exogenous surfactant for hyaline membrane disease.1 For the eye, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs may be the therapeutic advance of our time, revolutionising the treatment of vasoproliferative retinopathies including age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. In his informative editorial, Sears suggests that anti-VEGF therapy may play a similar role in retinopathy of prematurity.2 Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a vasoproliferative disease, and it is therefore not surprising that there is increasing enthusiasm for anti-VEGF drugs.3 4 …