VEGFA and retinopathy of prematurity: This second phase of ROP, apparently specular to the previous phase, is characterized by a diffuse vaso-proliferation and retinal neovascularization, and is therefore usually called “proliferative.” These two phases are strictly related to each other, because the entity of the vascular obliteration during the first ischemic phase affects the degree and severity of retinal hypoxia in the following phase, inducing the up-regulation of retinal VEGF and consequently the neovascularization.