We asked whether encapsulating the graft in additional materials would help the surgical delivery and potentially reduce the retinal thinning. Temporary graft encapsulation with thermosensitive gelatin and/or plasmin-assisted vitrectomy, however, was found to cause more aggressive retinal destruction and choroidal engorgement on SD-OCT compared to unaided implantation of fetal hRPE/PET implants (Figure S2). In contrast, we found that all these negative effects were ameliorated through 1 to 2 mg intravitreal triamcinolone (TCA) injection at the end of the surgery. This long-acting synthetic corticosteroid is routinely given intraocularly to reduce immune responses. Ophthalmic and systemic complications related to the implantation procedure are summarized in Table 2.
intravitreal triamcinolone (TCA) injection
1 to 2 mg
mg