Autologous retinal graft for the management of large macular holes associated with retinal detachment

To present the efficacy of autologous neurosensory retinal transplantation in macular holes surgery with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Eleven eyes of 11 patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment associated to a large macular hole were enrolled between January 2019 and January 2021 in the Department A of the Hedi Rais Institute of Ophthalmology (Tunis, Tunisia). All patients underwent a 23 G pars plana vitrectomy. An autologous neurosensory retinal patch was placed inside the macular hole. Long-acting silicone tamponade was carried out. Clinical features of the macular area, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), fundus examination, and SD-OCT were recorded before surgery, at 1- and 3-month follow-up after surgery. The mean age of our population was 56.6 +/- 10.33 years old, ranged from 45 to 76 years old. Final retinal reattachment was achieved clinically in all eyes. The Spectral domain-Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT) follow-up showed the macular hole closure. The retinal patch was demonstrated by OCT at each control. BCVA improved from 1.52 +/- 0.23 Logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution (LogMAR) to 0.89 +/- 0.16 LogMAR 3 months after surgery (p= 0.014). No adverse events were registered during the study. Autologous neurosensory retinal transplantation has been efficient to treat macular hole associated to rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Further multicentric studies with a large number of patients are needed to establish the results of this technique in complex cases.