Retinal plasticity in retinopathy of prematurity, and phototherapy prospects

In premature babies, plastic changes develop in the neural retina, which, depending on the severity of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), are a manifestation of adaptive or non-adaptive plasticity. In various experimental studies on animal ROP models, the conditioning effects of intermittent white light stimulation and various mechanisms of the positive effect of red and ultraviolet radiation on the plasticity of the retina have been demonstrated, which allows phototherapy to be considered as a promising modifying treatment for ROP supplementing the main therapy. Taking into account that light-dependent processes are involved in the pathogenesis of ROP, we also hypothesize that fractal phototherapy with complex-structured optical stimuli, as a method of activating adaptive neuroplasticity, can be most effective in the complex of methods for preventing and treating ROP.