Pioneer Research Award
2020-2021 Recipient
2020-2021 Recipient
PRA Project Title: Pseudophakic cystoid macular edema (PCME) is associated to genetic alterations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) - (“PCME-SNP”)
Dr. Tobias Brockmann, Department of Ophthalmology, Universitätsmedizin Rostock, Germany
Summary of PRA Project
Pseudophakic cystoid macular edema (PCME) is the most common complication following cataract surgery, which is usually accompanied with a considerable loss of visual acuity. The incidence of a clinically significant PCME was reported with 1-8% (Grzybowski A, et al. Clin Interv Aging. 2016). Especially patients with the presentation of a PCME in the first eye have a 20-fold higher risk to suffer a PCME in the fellow eye (McCafferty et al. BMC Ophthalmology 2017). These epidemiologic aspects draw the attention to genetic causes in the development of PCME. So far, genetic causes in the pathogenesis of PCME have not been revealed.
The research hypothesis of this study is that PCME is associated to genetic alterations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP).
In the research project, Dr. Brockmann will identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) that are significantly correlated to the presentation of a clinically relevant PCME. To conduct the study, a review of retrospective clinical files is to be assessed to identify patients without particular risk factors, which suffered from a PCME after uneventful cataract surgery. Selected patients will be scheduled, within this study, for blood sampling and macular diagnostics. A matched patient collective, without the history of PCME, will serve as reference. DNA will be extracted from all samples and further processed for microarray-based genome-wide SNP genotyping.
As clinical and scientific impact collects data, the expected findings of this project will account an improved understanding of patho-mechanisms involved in PCME formation. In a translational approach, new therapeutic and/or prophylactic concepts may arise that might also be transferred to other indications, other than PCME. Furthermore, the data will provide a set of relevant SNPs that might be of diagnostic relevance to preoperatively identify patients with a high individual risk for PCME, beyond known risk factors. In this respect, both therapeutic and diagnostic aspects are of high clinical and economic impact due to the common occurrence and the unmet medical needs of PCME.
This study has begun in December 2020, supported by the ESCRS, and an initial report expects to provide the key outcomes by the end of October, 2022.