title: Retinal transplants evaluated by optical coherence tomography in photoreceptor degenerate rats.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Doheny Retina Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1450 San Pablo Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
authors.forename: Biju B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ikai
authors.forename: Guanting
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Zhenhai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Aramant
authors.forename: Srinivas R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Sadda
authors.forename: Magdalene J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Seiler
mesh_terms: 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