Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a severe neurodegenerative disease of the retina that can lead to blindness. Even without treatment, a clinical study with the use of stem cells is currently underway and the results are being evaluated. In the present report we assess the vision-related quality of life in patients with RP submitted to intravitreal use of bone marrow-derived stem cells. METHOD: The study included 20 patients with RP submitted to intravitreal use of bone marrow-derived stem cells. We evaluate the vision-related quality of life (VRQOL) of patients using the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25). Patients were scheduled to answer the questionnaire before treatment and 3 and 12 months after treatment. RESULTS: All patients completed the survey as scheduled. There was a statistically significant improvement (P<0.05) in the quality of life of patients 3 months after treatment, whereas by the 12th month there was no statistically significant difference from baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Cell therapy with intravitreal use of bone marrow-derived stem cells can improve the quality of life of patients with RP, although the improvement is lost with time. A larger number of cases will be necessary to evaluate the repercussions of this therapy on the quality of life of these patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01560715 . Registered March 19, 2012.