Intravitreal Anti-VEGF Therapy as a Treatment for Retinopathy of Prematurity: What We Know After 7 Years

The authors review published clinical case reports, case series, and clinical trials evaluating the use of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) medications for the primary or adjunctive treatment of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). A literature search of peer reviewed reports on PubMed was performed. More than 50 pertinent peer-reviewed publications between 2006 and 2014 were selected to be included in this review and are summarized in this report. There is a growing body of literature on the use of anti-VEGF therapy as a treatment for ROP, predominately in the form of case reports and small case series. Adverse effects from anti-VEGF treatment for ROP have been reported, but with limited follow-up time. The use of anti-VEGF as a treatment for ROP remains off-label.