http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/51082/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/37214/ 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z To report and analyze long-term best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) outcomes following a free autologous retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)-choroid graft translocation in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Prospective cohort study. setting: Institutional. study population: One hundred and thirty consecutive patients (133 eyes) with AMD underwent RPE-choroid graft translocation between October 2001 and February 2006. All patients had a subfoveal choroidal neovascular membrane with or without hemorrhage and/or an RPE tear. All were either ineligible for or nonresponsive to photodynamic therapy, the standard treatment at the time of surgery. observation procedures: Data collection included preoperative and postoperative visual acuity measurements, fundus photography, fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography, and microperimetry. main outcome measures: Postoperative BCVA. The mean preoperative BCVA was 20/250. Four years after surgery, 15% of the eyes had a BCVA of >20/200, and 5% had a BCVA of <20/40. One patient achieved a BCVA of 20/32, which was maintained at 7 years after surgery. Complications consisted of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (n = 13), recurrent neovascularization (n = 13), and hypotony (n = 2). RPE-choroid graft transplantation may maintain macular function for up to 7 years after surgery, with relatively low complication and recurrence rates. Retinal sensitivity, BCVA data, and fixation on the graft suggest that the graft, rather than simply the removal of submacular hemorrhage and/or choroidal neovascular membrane, was responsible for the preservation of macular function. This surgery may be an alternative for patients with AMD who cannot undergo other standard treatment. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/33651/ 2011-07-01T00:00:00Z PURPOSE. To study early flow and revascularization in a free, autologous, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)-choroid graft. METHODS. This prospective cohort study used spectral domain- optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) after RPE-choroid graft surgery in 12 patients. This SD-OCT was combined with fluorescein angiography (FA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) in 5 patients. RESULTS. SD-OCT revealed that vessel diameter, number of vessels, and graft thickness increased in 10 of 12 patients, starting between 3 and 10 days after surgery. A subsequent decrease in thickness was found in all 10 patients, beginning as early as 8 days after surgery. Initially, the graft vessels were optically clearer than the underlying choroidal recipient vessels. Between 8 and 30 days after surgery, the optically clear vessels became gray, similar to the recipient choroid. FA and ICGA revealed perfusion in 4 of 5 patients between postoperative days 6 and 15. Between postoperative days 12 and 60, the entire choroidal structure of the graft was visible on ICGA. CONCLUSIONS. These data suggest that enlargement of vessel diameter, increase in the number of choroidal vessels, and graft thickening visualized by SD-OCT correspond with the ingrowth of afferent vessels, as demonstrated by ICGA. The subsequent establishment of efferent vessels results in flow, imaged as a change in color of the graft's vessels from optically clear to gray, graft thinning on SD-OCT, and complete revascularization on ICGA. SD-OCT, a noninvasive examination, can be used to demonstrate early graft perfusion in patients (trialregister. nl/trialreg/admin/rctview.asp number, NTR1768).