[Retinopathy of prematurity. Cryotherapy can reduce the risk of severe visual impairment].

Retinopathy of prematurity is a main cause of severe visual impairment and blindness in infancy. It is reported that the incidence is increasing along with the growing survival of infants with an extremely short gestation period. Transscleral cryotherapy has been shown to be effective in arresting the progression of the disease into the sight-threatening fibrovascular stages. A structured screening programme starting four to six weeks after birth for infants with less than 31 weeks of gestation is needed to identify the relatively few prematurely born infants for whom this treatment is indicated.