Abstract:

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a retinal vascular proliferative fundus disease that occurs in premature infants with low birth weight. Currently, a widely used treatment is intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs. Ranibizumab is the only anti-VEGF drug approved by the National Medical Products Administration for the treatment of ROP in China. Ranibizumab is a humanized recombinant monoclonal antibody Fab fragment that can inhibit pathological neovascularization. A single intravitreal injection of ranibizumab is effective for active ROP lesions; but there is a high risk of recurrence, which usually requires multiple repeated injections. The long-term efficacy of ranibizumab can promote the development of retinal vascularization, but it may have certain effects on the retinal structure. Low-dose ranibizumab has been shown to achieve favorable therapeutic outcomes, which may be beneficial in improving the safety of the drug. For the safety of ranibizumab, compared with laser photocoagulation treatment, ranibizumab has a lower incidence of high myopia and structural abnormalities. However, further research is needed to evaluate its long-term systemic effects. Combination therapy with ranibizumab and supplementary laser photocoagulation, individualized treatment strategies, standardized follow-up systems, and the exploration of novel drug delivery routes are the future research directions. This article reviews the latest research on the treatment of ROP with ranibizumab, providing reference for clinical practice.

Key words: retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), ranibizumab, anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drug