PMID- 32310198 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20210923 LR - 20210923 IS - 1878-3627 (Electronic) IS - 0922-6028 (Print) IS - 0922-6028 (Linking) VI - 38 IP - 3 DP - 2020 TI - Mesenchymal stem cell surgery, rescue and regeneration in retinitis pigmentosa: clinical and rehabilitative prognostic aspects. PG - 223-237 LID - 10.3233/RNN-190970 [doi] AB - PURPOSE: To assess whether treatment with the Limoli Retinal Restoration Technique (LRRT) can be performed in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), grafting the autologous cells in a deep scleral pocket above the choroid of each eye to exert their beneficial effect on the residual retinal cells. METHODS: The patients were subjected to a complete ophthalmological examination, including best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), close-up visus measurements, spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), microperimetry (MY), and electroretinography (ERG). Furthermore, the complete ophthalmological examination was carried out at baseline (T0) and at 6 months (T180) after surgery. The Shapiro-Wilk test was used to assess the normality of distribution of the investigated parameters. A mixed linear regression model was used to analyse the difference in all the studied parameters at T0 and T180, and to compare the mean change between the two groups. All statistical analyses were performed with STATA 14.0 (Collage Station, Texas, USA). RESULTS: LRRT treatment was performed in 34 eyes of 25 RP patients recruited for the study. The eyes were classified in two groups on the basis of foveal thickness (FT) assessed by SD-OCT: 14 eyes in Group A (FT 190mum). Although it had not reached the statistical significance, Group B showed a better improvement in BCVA, residual close-up visus and sensitivity than Group A. CONCLUSIONS: Previous studies have described the role of LRRT in slowing down retinal degenerative diseases. Consequently, this surgical procedure could improve the clinical and rehabilitative prognostic parameters in RP patients. On the other hand, further clinical research and studies with longer follow-up will be needed to evaluate its efficacy. FAU - Limoli, Paolo Giuseppe AU - Limoli PG AD - Low Vision Research Centre of Milan, p.zza Sempione 3, Milan, Italy. FAU - Limoli, Celeste Silvana Serena AU - Limoli CSS AD - Low Vision Research Centre of Milan, p.zza Sempione 3, Milan, Italy. FAU - Morales, Marco Ulises AU - Morales MU AD - Division of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, United Kingdom. FAU - Vingolo, Enzo Maria AU - Vingolo EM AD - Department of Sense Organs, Faculty of Medicine and Odontology, Sapienza University of Rome, p.le A. Moro, Rome, Italy. LA - eng PT - Journal Article PL - Netherlands TA - Restor Neurol Neurosci JT - Restorative neurology and neuroscience JID - 9005499 SB - IM MH - Adult MH - Electroretinography MH - Female MH - Humans MH - Male MH - *Mesenchymal Stem Cells MH - Middle Aged MH - Prognosis MH - Regeneration/*physiology MH - Retina/diagnostic imaging/*physiopathology MH - Retinitis Pigmentosa/diagnostic imaging/physiopathology/rehabilitation/*surgery MH - Tomography, Optical Coherence MH - Treatment Outcome MH - Visual Acuity PMC - PMC7504992 OTO - NOTNLM OT - Autograft OT - Limoli retinal restoration technique (LRRT) OT - cell surgery OT - embryonic stem cells (ESC) OT - foveal thickness OT - growth factor (GF) OT - induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) OT - mesenchymal cell (MSC) OT - retinitis pigmentosa (RP) EDAT- 2020/04/21 06:00 MHDA- 2021/09/24 06:00 PMCR- 2020/09/21 CRDT- 2020/04/21 06:00 PHST- 2020/04/21 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2021/09/24 06:00 [medline] PHST- 2020/04/21 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2020/09/21 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - RNN190970 [pii] AID - 10.3233/RNN-190970 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Restor Neurol Neurosci. 2020;38(3):223-237. doi: 10.3233/RNN-190970.