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Estimated time frame suggested for rescuing photoreceptors after retinal pigment epithelium tear
Arch Ophthalmol. 2011;129(5):575-579.
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A study suggested that signs of viable photoreceptors may be identified for up to 325 days after a retinal pigment epithelium tear.
"The findings are important to consider in therapies aimed at rescuing photoreceptors after an RPE tear, such as autologous transplantation of RPE and choroid, macular translocation or other future therapies, because replacing the RPE layer after an RPE tear is only beneficial if the overlying retina and especially the photoreceptors are still intact," the study authors wrote.
The cross-sectional study applied confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy in combination with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography to assess 28 eyes for the morphology of RPE ripping secondary to age-related macular degeneration.
For those with more recent RPE damage, intact external limiting membrane, photoreceptor inner and outer segment junction, and non-atrophic outer nuclear layer could all be identified, and they were even observed at 325 days in one patient. However, these structures were atrophied in eyes with older fibrotic RPE tears.