Intraocular Retinal Transplantation: A Review

This review covers intraocular transplantation of retinal tissue. This has importance both for theoretical understanding of retinal and neural development and for possible future clinical application. Transplantation sites have ranged from the anterior chamber through the retina to the subretinal space. Transplanted tissue has ranged from whole retina to specific retinal layers or specific types of retinal cells. Both within-species and inter-species transplants have been performed, and donor age has ranged from embryonic to adult. The ability of transplanted tissue to be accepted and to differentiate in host eyes has been studied. The conditions under which successful transplants are obtained, host-graft interactions, and transplantation methodologies have been explored. Morphological, and to a small extent, also functional characteristics of the transplants have been studied.