The Evaluation of Vision Related Quality of Life in Patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa after Suprachoroidal Umbilical Cord Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cell Treatment

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate vision related quality of life (VRQoL) in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) after suprachoroidal umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cell (UC-MSC) treatment. Methods: The patients were evaluated regarding to the VRQoL before the treatment and at the end of the first year. The study was performed in an affiliated hospital of a university between 2018 and 2020. The patients were operated by a single surgeon and evaluated at baseline and at first, sixth and twelfth month after stem cell implantation. To assess patients’ subjective visual situation, we used Impact of Vision Impairment (IVI) Profile 28-item questionnaire. It basically evaluated vision-related activities in three subscales: “reading and accessing information”, “mobility and independence” and “emotional well-being”. This test is established to assess VRQoL in low vision patients. Results: A total of 123 people, ranging in age from 18 to 48 years, participated in the study and 43.9% (n = 54) were women. The study patients were followed up for one year and the questionnaire was filled by patients at baseline and one year after surgery. In all groups, no difficulty was observed in understanding the questionnaire. The results showed significant improvements in VRQoL after stem cell treatment (p < 0.05). The analysis of each subscale score including “reading and accessing information”, “mobility and independence” and “emotional well-being” before and after treatment showed significant improvements in all subscale scores (p < 0.05). Conclusions: IVI 28 item questionnaire seems to be an effective test for the assessment of VRQoL in low vision patients. The suprachoroidal implantation of UC-MSC for the treatment of RP can improve the quality of life of these patients.