Analysis of Cochrane Systematic Reviews about retinopathy of prematurity

Abstract

Background: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a vasoproliferative retinal disorder that affects extremely premature infants and is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in childhood. Objective: This study presents a review of Cochrane systematic reviews about ROP. Methods: We analyzed and summarized the results of all intervention, prevention and treatment, from Cochrane Systematic Reviews (SR) for ROP designed to the highest standard of rigor to show the current position and propose studies that are missing for decision making. Results: Eight SR were analyzed in this study, four in prophylaxis and four in treatment of ROP. The outcome 'Beneficial effect of oral beta-blockers on progression to stage 3 ROP but not to stage 2 ROP with plus disease or to stage 4 or 5 ROP was the only one that presented moderate evidence quality, all the others outcomes presented evidence quality floating from low to very low. Conclusion: There is a lack of studies showing the quality of evidence in the treatment and prevention of retinopathy of prematurity, particularly in long-term outcomes after treatment in order to assess the impact and quality of life of these patients.