NHS rolls out new treatment to prevent blindness in premature babies

A new treatment which prevents blindness in premature babies is to be rolled out on the NHS, the chief executive Amanda Pritchard has announced.

Ranibizumab is a VEGF inhibitor administered via an intravitreal injection into the eye and can be delivered within minutes in a variety of settings.

The treatment will be given to babies with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) – a condition which can affect the eyes in preterm babies. As the condition is preventable, all preterm babies or babies with a low birth rate are screened for it.

If severe ROP is diagnosed, treatment will be offered within 48 or 72 hours depending on the severity of the diagnosis.

Severe ROP is usually treated with laser therapy, however, some premature babies are too unwell and fragile to receive laser treatment, which also carries a risk of leaving scarring on the retina and permanently damaging vision.

Ranibizumab will therefore be offered as an alternative therapy to laser treatment with babies with some forms of ROP.

Babies treated with ranibizumab will require regular follow-up

The drug is already routinely used in adults with wet age-related macular degeneration – a long-lasting eye disorder that causes blurred vision or a blind spot in the central vision.

The drug temporarily stops the action of a growth protein called Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF), which reduces or reverses the growth of the abnormal blood vessels.

This treatment has been shown to work well and can be easier to perform than laser. However, it requires many months of regular eye examinations afterwards.

Indeed, around one in three (31%) babies will need a second treatment within four months of the first treatment taking place. Follow up treatment in the first year is more frequent and intensive than with laser therapy, with regular follow up in the first six months followed by annual follow up to the age of five.

Some babies are unable to tolerate laser eye surgery

Despite the need for frequent follow-up, Ms Pritchard says the treatment will “life-changing” for young babies and their families.

“The national roll-out of this lifeline treatment for babies who are too poorly to undergo laser therapy is a vital step forward in preventing avoidable vision loss, and as we prepare to mark our 75th anniversary this is another example of how the NHS continues to ensure that the latest and most effective treatments are available for everyone who needs them,” she said.

One mother, Natalie, explains how ranibizumab prevented her daughter going blind in her left eye. She said: “She was meant to have laser treatment, which is the usual way to treat this condition, but when they gave her the sedative to prepare her for the procedure she didn’t tolerate it at all, so they couldn’t start the procedure.

“At this point we thought she would end up blind in her left eye, but we were lucky enough to get offered this new treatment, which was an injection into the eye.

Natalie said the treatment was finished within a couple of minutes and was much quicker and easier than treatment with laser therapy. Millie now has normal vision and does not need glasses.

“We feel so lucky that she got to have this procedure and avoided almost certain blindness in that eye, and now other families will be able to benefit from it too,” she said.