Longevity of Visual Improvements following Electro-Stimulation Therapies and Efficacy of Retreatment in Retinitis Pigmentosa subjects

Longevity of Visual Improvements following Electro-Stimulation Therapies and Efficacy of Retreatment in Retinitis Pigmentosa subjects

Background: Roughly half of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) subjects who received Transcorneal Electrical Stimulation (TES) and 29% who receive electro-acupuncture developed significant improvements in vision during a small-scale randomized controlled trial by our group.

Methods: We longitudinally monitored four RP subjects for declining vision due to natural RP progression, at which time a retreatment course of six weekly TES sessions or 10 electro-acupuncture sessions was administered.

Results: A 44 y/o female improved from 20/665 to 20/66 in the worse eye following the initial course of TES, but diminished to 20/333 ten months later, at which time retreatment improved vision to 20/83. Follow-up visits at 6-9 months post-retreatment revealed slight declines to 20/120-126, then improved again to 20/63 after receiving a second retreatment. A 47 y/o male improved from 20/279 to 20/106 in the worse eye after the initial course of TES; then 11 months later he was relatively stable at 20/116, which then declined to 20/168 three months later, at which time he was retreated and improved to 20/140. A 34 y/o female improved binocularly from 20/264 to 20/200 after initial TES, then after slight declines every 3-4 months, she received 3 retreatment courses, which helped maintain her vision over 18 months. A 46 y/o male who received three electro-acupuncture courses and one TES course had no progressive macular atrophy or visual function loss over 27 months.

Conclusions: Following encouraging improvements after electro-stimulation therapies that lasted for several months, it appears possible to restore slowly diminishing vision over time with retreatments.