Ranibizumab—The jury is still out

Retinopathy of prematurity is a vasoproliferative disorder that affects the developing retinal vessels of preterm infants. After preterm birth, there is a halt in the typical development of the retinal vasculature with subsequent pathological compensatory mechanisms leading to abnormal and uncontrolled retinal neovascularisation. This can lead to retinal scarring, retinal detachment, vision impairment and blindness. Retinopathy of prematurity is a leading cause of preventable childhood blindness, occurring primarily in infants of low birthweight (≤1250 g; mean, 700 g). Most studies report ROP incidence of about 60% for babies under 1500 g. Globally, it is estimated that 50 000 infants are blind as a result of ROP.