Effect of intravitreal bevacizumab for retinopathy of prematurity on weight gain

Purpose To evaluate the short-term effect on body weight (BW) gain after intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Methods This was a retrospective 1:1 matched case-control study. Infants with ROP treated by IVB or photocoagulation (PC) at Shiga University of Medical Science Hospital between April 2010 and December 2019 were included in the study. To match BWs at treatment between the IVB and PC groups, 1:1 matching for BWs at treatment within 100 g was performed. The BW gains for the 7 days before treatment (pre-treatment week), the 7 days after treatment (first post-treatment week), and the period from 7 to 14 days after treatment (second post-treatment week) were compared between the IVB and PC groups. Results Following 1:1 matching, 13 infants in both groups were enrolled in the analysis. The weekly BW gain for the first post-treatment week was significantly lower in the IVB group compared with the PC group (86 g vs. 145 g; P = 0.046), whereas the weekly BW gains for the pre-treatment week (173 g vs. 159 g; P = 0.71) and the second post-treatment week (154 g vs. 152 g; P = 0.73) were comparable between the two groups. The short-term inhibitive effect of IVB on BW gain was particularly observed in infants weighing less than 1500 g at treatment (<1500 g: 47 g vs. ≥1500 g: 132 g; P = 0.03). Conclusion IVB could have a short-term inhibitive effect on BW gain in infants with ROP, and this effect is more likely to occur in infants with a lower BW at the time of treatment.