Retinal transplants evaluated by optical coherence tomography in photoreceptor degenerate rats.
Optical coherence tomography (OCT), a non-invasive method, was used for qualitative assessment of fetal retinal sheet transplants by non-invasive imaging. Rhodopsin-mutant S334ter-line-3 rats with fast retinal degeneration (28-37-day old) were transplanted with fetal retinal sheets from embryonic day (E) 18-19 pigmented normal rats. Retinal thickness measurements from transplanted (n = 51), no surgery control (n = 8), and normal pigmented rat eyes (n = 6) were obtained using a Zeiss stratus OCT-3 scanning instrument. Frozen retinal sections were stained with hematoxylin/eosin. S334ter-line-3 rats showed significant reduction in OCT retinal thickness (p<0.001) compared to normal pigmented rats at the age of 21 days. In 62% of the transplanted rats, OCT scanning revealed the presence of a subretinal graft, which was confirmed by subsequent histology. Retinal thickness in the transplant area was significantly increased compared to the area outside the transplant and to non-transplanted eyes (p<0.001). While most of the transplants with single-band OCT images (87%) had rosetted transplants, a considerable proportion of transplants having a multi-band OCT image were found to have well-laminated areas in the graft after histological evaluation. Following retinal transplantation in rodents, OCT imaging data correlated mostly with transplant morphology. OCT is a useful technique for in vivo screening and evaluation of retinal transplants. This technique determines surgical outcomes at a much earlier stage.
Thomas
Biju B
BB
Department of Ophthalmology, Doheny Retina Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1450 San Pablo Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
Arai
Shinichi
S
Ikai
Yusuke
Y
Qiu
Guanting
G
Chen
Zhenhai
Z
Aramant
Robert B
RB
Sadda
Srinivas R
SR
Seiler
Magdalene J
MJ
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D010786:Photoreceptor Cells / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D051381:Rats; D012160:Retina / Q000196:embryology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000637:transplantation*; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D042262:Retinoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome