The AAP News article, “Timing critical when using Avastin intravitreal therapy for ROP” by Helen A. Mintz-Hittner, M.D., FAAP, (May 2011, page 14, http://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/32/5/14) suggests that bevacizumab is the treatment of choice for the most severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), in particular zone I disease. While we remain hopeful that this treatment indeed will be the panacea that Dr. Mintz-Hittner in her pioneering work states, we do not find the issue is as clearcut as suggested in her AAP News article, the New England Journal of Medicine paper, “Efficacy of Intravitreal Bevacizumab for Stage 3+ Retinopathy of Prematurity (
Bevacizumab may have great potential for improving the visual outcomes of our tiniest patients, but we would urge caution...
