title: Impediments to eye transplantation: ocular viability following optic-nerve transection or enucleation.
abstract: Maintenance of ocular viability is one of the major impediments to successful whole-eye transplantation. This review provides a comprehensive understanding of the current literature to help guide future studies in order to overcome this hurdle. A systematic multistage review of published literature was performed. Three specific questions were addressed: (1) Is recovery of visual function following eye transplantation greater in cold-blooded vertebrates when compared with mammals? (2) Is outer retina function following enucleation and reperfusion improved compared with enucleation alone? (3) Following optic-nerve transection, is there a correlation between retinal ganglion cell (RGC) survival and either time after transection or proximity of the transection to the globe? In a majority of the studies performed in the literature, recovery of visual function can occur after whole-eye transplantation in cold-blooded vertebrates. Following enucleation (and reperfusion), outer retinal function is maintained from 4 to 9 h. RGC survival following optic-nerve transection is inversely related to both the time since transection and the proximity of transection to the globe. Lastly, neurotrophins can increase RGC survival following optic-nerve transection. This review of the literature suggests that the use of a donor eye is feasible for whole-eye transplantation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ellenberg
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: J-H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ripps
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brady
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Melhem
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lakkis
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adamis
authors.forename: D-F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ellis-Behnke
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Langer
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Strittmatter
authors.forename: D T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Azar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005123:Eye / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000637:transplantation*; D015353:Eye Enucleation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D020221:Optic Nerve Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D014019:Tissue Donors; D014022:Tissue Survival / Q000502:physiology; D014792:Visual Acuity