Acute retrolental fibroplasia. II. Treatment by cryosurgery.

Fourteen eyes of 12 infants with acute retrolental fibroplasia were treated with cryotherapy. In only one or possibly two cases was treatment considered to be of positive value. Treatment in the remaining 12 cases was either ineffective or deleterlous. Surgical treatment is rarely, if ever, indicated and spontaneous resolution of retinopathic changes is still the most common course of the natural history of the disease. The role of the ophthalmologist in the perinatal intensive care nursery remains one of advisor to pediatricians and informant to parents of affected children.