ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Ophthalmology
This article is part of the Research TopicRetinopathy of prematurity: an update on pathophysiology, diagnostic methods and treatmentView all 7 articles
Efficacy and Factors Associated with Reactivation following Intravitreal Ranibizumab or Conbercept for Retinopathy of Prematurity
Provisionally accepted
- Guangdong Province Women and Children Hospital, Guangzhou, China
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Purpose: To compare the efficacy of intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) and conbercept (IVC) treatment for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and to evaluate the risk factors associated with disease reactivation. Methods: In this retrospective study, the medical records of infants with ROP treated with IVR or IVC from April 2017 to June 2024 at Guangdong Women and Children's Hospital were reviewed. The primary outcome measures were reactivation rate, time to reactivation, and factors associated with reactivation. Results: A total of 294 infants (565 eyes) were included. The reactivation rate was 10.39% (43 of 414 eyes) in the IVR group and 12.58% (19 of 151 eyes) in the IVC group, with no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.46). The mean time to reactivation was similar between the IVR group (8.78 ± 1.68 weeks) and the IVC group (8.92 ± 2.01 weeks) (P=0.84). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified that a lower postmenstrual age (PMA) at initial treatment (P=0.016) and Zone I ROP (P=0.0007) were significant independent risk factor of reactivation. Gestational age, birth weight, sex, and other systemic comorbidities were not significantly associated with reactivation. Conclusions: Ranibizumab and conbercept are effective for treating ROP. A lower PMA at initial treatment and Zone I ROP were identified as significant risk factors for reactivation. Infants with these characteristics require closer and more prolonged follow-up after anti-VEGF therapy.
Keywords: anti-VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), conbercept, Ranibizumab, Reactivación, ROP (retinopathy of preterm)
Received: 26 Nov 2025; Accepted: 12 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Liu, Li, Liu, Xie, Mu, Zhao, Zheng, Huang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jianxun Wang
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