title: Intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment for retinopathy of prematurity in infants with active adenoviral keratoconjunctivitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the results of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in infants with active adenoviral keratoconjunctivitis (AKC).
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis was performed using the medical records of all infants treated with intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF agents during an AKC outbreak previously reported in the literature at a tertiary center for treatment of ROP. The infants were divided into two groups. Group 1 included nine infants (18 eyes) with AKC, while Group 2 included 13 infants (26 eyes) without AKC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the AKC outbreak, 22 infants were treated with anti-VEGF agents for treatment-requiring ROP. In all patients in both groups, the ROP and plus disease displayed a significant regression within 2 days after the intravitreal injections. Moreover, no serious complications such as endophthalmitis, retinal detachment, cataract or intravitreal hemorrhage were observed after the treatment and there were no statistically significant differences between the groups in terms of postoperative complications.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Immediate and appropriate intervention is very important in cases of treatment-requiring ROP otherwise it can result in blindness. However, laser treatment for ROP is technically difficult in infants with active AKC. The results of this study showed that favorable outcomes without serious ocular complications could be obtained via intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF agents in infants with active AKC.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Ophthalmology , Adana Numune Training and Research Hospital , Adana , Turkey.
authors.forename: Yusuf
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koçluk
authors.affiliation: a Department of Ophthalmology , Adana Numune Training and Research Hospital , Adana , Turkey.
authors.forename: Emine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alyamaç Sukgen
mesh_terms: D000257:Adenoviridae Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D058449:Intravitreal Injections; D007637:Keratoconjunctivitis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D012178:Retinopathy of Prematurity / Q000188:drug therapy*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
chemical_list: D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
keywords: Adenoviral keratoconjunctivitis; anti-vascular endothelial growth factor agents; intravitreal injection; retinopathy of prematurity