Argus II retinal prosthesis for retinitis pigmentosa in the Middle East: The 2015 Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology Gradle Lecture

Abstract

Background To describe the outcomes of patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) who received the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System. Methods This retrospective, interventional case series evaluated 10 consecutive patients who received the Argus II retinal implant and underwent visual function tests with the system on and system off. The main outcome measures were safety (the number, seriousness, and relatedness of adverse events), and visual function measured by computer-based objective tests, including square localization (SL) and direction of motion (DOM). Secondary measures included functional vision performance, including orientation and mobility (O&M) tasks. Results There were no intraoperative complications and all prostheses remained implanted at the end of follow up. The mean patient age was 41.3 years; mean duration of the implant in vivo was 2.1 years. One patient had a suture exposure over the coil suture tab and over the inferior case suture tab at 2 years postoperatively, which was managed successfully. One patient developed mild vitreous hemorrhage that resolved spontaneously. One patient developed high intraocular pressure postoperatively due to a tight scleral band (SB) that was managed successfully. Patients performed significantly better with the Argus II system on than off on all tasks. Conclusion Patients who received the Argus II had a safety profile out to 4 years post-implantation that was markedly better than that observed in the pre-approval phase of the Argus II. In this population of RP patients, the Argus II retinal prosthesis provided useful visual function over several years that likely translates into improved quality of life. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov identifier, NCT00407602.

Factors affecting two-point discrimination in Argus II patients

“…The perceptual experience of clinically implanted Argus II patients has been variable ( Erickson-Davis and Korzybska, 2021 ). In many patients a significant proportion of electrodes cannot elicit percepts within safe current density limits ( Ahuja et al, 2013 ), and only limited pattern vision is generated by the device ( Stronks and Dagnelie, 2014 ; da Cruz et al, 2016 ; Arevalo et al, 2021 ).…”

Retinitis Pigmentosa: Novel Therapeutic Targets and Drug Development

“…RP patients with mild visual impairment would not benefit from this device to restore normal vision [ 29 ]. However, a recent study has found that the safety profile of the Argus II has significantly improved compared to the pre-approval phase, with no significant issues reported up to four years post-implantation [ 30 ].…”

Factores relacionados al éxito anatómico y funcional de la cirugía por desprendimiento de retina regmatógeno. Instituto Regional de Oftalmología “Javier Servat Univazo” (2010 – 2019)

“…[27] Cerca del 50 % de pacientes con VRP tenía DRR total, hallazgo semejante al de Tseng et al [28] quien reporta que los DRR con compromiso de al menos 3 cuadrantes se asocian más a VRP. Además, encontramos que el tiempo de enfermedad en pacientes con VRP fue mucho mayor que en aquellos que no lo tenían, lo cual concuerda con la literatura que menciona que uno de los riesgos para la aparición de VRP es un DRR con más de 1 mes de evolución [29] .…”