Retinopathy of Prematurity News and Research

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Study offers new hope to protect extremely premature babies from impaired vision

Now there is hope of a new way to protect extremely premature babies from impaired vision or blindness resulting from the eye disease retinopathy of prematurity.

9 Feb 2018

Length of stay in ICU may have impact on preterm babies’ behavior

A study conducted by researchers at the University of São Paulo's Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine in Brazil, with support from the Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP , indicates that length of stay in the ICU is the factor that best explains some preterm babies' behavioral problems relating to emotional regulation, regardless of the degree of prematurity and the presence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

30 Nov 2017

SUNY Downstate professor receives two awards to support research on vision-threatening diseases

Brahim Chaqour, PhD, professor of cell biology and ophthalmology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, has received two awards to support research into treatment of currently incurable vision-threatening diseases. The new awards, totaling $2,008,973, are from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

14 Nov 2017

Low birthweight babies have poor survival despite advances in neonatal care, study shows

A new study published in Acta Paediatrica indicates that survival of babies born weighing ≤500 g is poor despite advances in neonatal care.

27 Sep 2017

Medical care in California's NICUs influenced by infants' racial and ethnic identities

Infants' racial and ethnic identities influence the quality of medical care they receive in California's neonatal intensive care units, a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine has found.

28 Aug 2017

Researchers present novel gene-editing technique to prevent retinal angiogenesis

A research team from the Schepens Eye Research Institute of Massachusetts Eye and Ear has successfully prevented mice from developing angiogenesis of the retina--the sensory tissue at the back of the eye--using gene-editing techniques with CRISPR-Cas9.

25 Jul 2017

Scientists discover novel therapeutic target for retinal neovascularization

A team led by Massachusetts Eye and Ear researchers has identified a novel therapeutic target for retinal neovascularization, or abnormal blood vessel growth in the retina, a hallmark of advanced diabetic eye disease (proliferative diabetic retinopathy).

11 Apr 2017

Scientists identify molecule that could be targeted to prevent vision loss in diabetics and preterm infants

Researchers at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, have identified a new molecule that induces the formation of abnormal blood vessels in the eyes of diabetic mice.

23 Mar 2017

Researchers explore effects of preeclampsia on risk of developing ROP in premature infants

Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD, and colleagues at the John A. Moran Center and Department of Pediatrics at the University of Utah and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, were looking for a way to tease apart the effects of preeclampsia on the risk of developing retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), an eye disease found in premature infants. Their results, and the model they developed, were published February 14, 2017, in Scientific Reports.

15 Feb 2017

New techniques and treatments show promise for eliminating retinopathy of prematurity

A mini-symposium published in the Journal of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus provides important insights into new techniques and treatments that show promise for eliminating retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) throughout the world.

18 Jan 2017

Telemedicine eye screening programs could help bridge gap in caring for premature babies

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) occurs when abnormal blood vessels grow over the retina and may lead to blindness in premature babies.

15 Dec 2016

Steroid treatment linked to increased risk of retinopathy in very low birth weight infants

Because of the beneficial effect of corticosteroids on lung function, especially in infants who are ventilator dependent, corticosteroids are, at times, administered to very low birth weight neonates to treat established or evolving lung disease. However, it has long been suspected that steroids may have negative neurodevelopmental effects on very premature infants.

16 Aug 2016

Discovery offers promising alternative to current therapies for AMD and ROP

A research team led by scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the University of New Mexico School of Medicine has identified a small molecule that treats animal models of aged macular degeneration (AMD) and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) by preventing the overgrowth of blood vessels that are characteristic of these two retinal diseases.

3 Nov 2015

Shire acquires Foresight Biotherapeutics for $300 million

Shire plc announced today that it has acquired New York-based, privately held Foresight Biotherapeutics Inc. for $300 million.

3 Aug 2015

JAMA: Extremely preterm infants enrolled in randomized clinical trials experience neither better nor worse outcomes

In a group of more than 5,000 extremely preterm infants, important in-hospital outcomes were neither better nor worse in infants enrolled in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) compared with eligible but nonenrolled infants, findings that may provide reassurance regarding concerns about performing RCTs in this vulnerable population, according to a study in the June 16 issue of JAMA.

17 Jun 2015

Preterm babies treated with bevacizumab for severe retinopathy of prematurity have lower motor scores

Preterm babies with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) treated using bevacizumab, a growth inhibitor, have been found to have lower motor scores than babies treated with traditional laser ablation. The research is being presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology this week in Denver, Colo.

7 May 2015

Blocking Slit2 protein prevents blood vessel development that causes vasoproliferative ocular diseases

Vasoproliferative ocular diseases are responsible for sight loss in millions of people in the industrialised countries. Many patients do not currently respond to the treatment offered, which targets a specific factor, VEGF. A team of Inserm researchers at the Vision Institute (Inserm/CNRS/Pierre and Marie Curie University), in association with a team from the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center, have demonstrated in an animal model that blocking another protein, Slit2, prevents the pathological blood vessel development that causes these diseases.

22 Apr 2015

Reversing effects of early stage age-related macular degeneration may be possible

A new technique reported in the February 2015 issue of The FASEB Journal suggests that during early stages, it might be possible to reverse age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness that is currently irreversible. The treatment involving a nanosecond laser may also have further implications for other eye diseases such as diabetic macular oedema, diabetic retinopathy and retinopathy of prematurity.

3 Feb 2015

Two UTHealth professors selected as AAAS Fellows for their efforts to prevent blindness

Two professors in the School of Public Health at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston - Stephen Daiger, Ph.D., and Robert Hardy, Ph.D. - have been elected to the rank of Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science for their efforts to prevent blindness.

14 Jan 2015

Endothelin gene expression linked to vision loss in premature babies

A gene known to play a major role in constricting blood vessels also appears to be a major player in the aberrant blood vessel growth that can destroy the vision of premature babies.

11 Nov 2014