Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29746415›Full record

ArticleRetina (Philadelphia, Pa.)2018

HISTOLOGY OF GEOGRAPHIC ATROPHY SECONDARY TO AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION: A Multilayer Approach.

Miaoling Li, Carrie Huisingh, Jeffrey Messinger, Rosa Dolz-Marco, Daniela Ferrara, K Bailey Freund, Christine A Curcio

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Retina (Philadelphia, Pa.), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 103 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
103citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
14.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

103 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 160 citations in OpenAlex.

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  13. Cell therapy for age-related macular degeneration.Mammalian genome : official journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society · 2026
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43 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.

Miaoling LiDepartment of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.
Carrie HuisinghDepartment of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.
Jeffrey MessingerDepartment of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.
Rosa Dolz-MarcoVitreous Retina Macula Consultants of New York, New York.
Daniela FerraraGenentech, South San Francisco, California.
K Bailey FreundVitreous Retina Macula Consultants of New York, New York.
Christine A CurcioDepartment of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.
University of Alabama at Birmingham · USVitreous Retina Macula Consultants of New York · US

Funding

QUANTITATIVE ANAYLSIS OF AGING RETINAR01EY006109 · NEI · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · PI CURCIO, CHRISTINE A · 1986 to 2012
$3.5M
NEI NIH HHS R01 EY006109
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo systematically characterize histologic features of multiple chorioretinal layers in eyes with geographic atrophy, or complete retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and outer retinal atrophy, secondary to age-related macular degeneration, including Henle fiber layer and outer nuclear layer; and to compare these changes to those in the underlying RPE-Bruch membrane-choriocapillaris complex and associated extracellular deposits.

methodsGeographic atrophy was delimited by the external limiting membrane (ELM) descent towards Bruch membrane. In 13 eyes, histologic phenotypes and/or thicknesses of Henle fiber layer, outer nuclear layer, underlying supporting tissues, and extracellular deposits at four defined locations on the non-atrophic and atrophic sides of the ELM descent were assessed and compared across other tissue layers, with generalized estimating equations and logit models.

resultsOn the non-atrophic side of the ELM descent, distinct Henle fiber layer and outer nuclear layer became dyslaminated, cone photoreceptor inner segment myoids shortened, photoreceptor nuclei and mitochondria translocated inward, and RPE was dysmorphic. On the atrophic side of the ELM descent, all measures of photoreceptor health declined to zero. Henle fiber layer/outer nuclear layer thickness halved, and only Müller cells remained, in the absence of photoreceptors. Sub-RPE deposits remained, Bruch membrane thinned, and choriocapillaris density decreased.

conclusionThe ELM descent sharply delimits an area of marked gliosis and near-total photoreceptor depletion clinically defined as Geographic atrophy (or outer retinal atrophy), indicating severe and potentially irreversible tissue damage. Degeneration of supporting tissues across this boundary is gradual, consistent with steady age-related change and suggesting that RPE and Müller cells subsequently respond to a threshold of stress. Novel clinical trial endpoints should be sought at age-related macular degeneration stages before intense gliosis and thick deposits impede therapeutic intervention.

Indexed as

Aged, 80 and overBruch MembraneChoroidFemaleGeographic AtrophyHumansMacular DegenerationMalePhotoreceptor CellsRetinal Pigment Epithelium

Identifiers

PMID29746415
PMCPMC6166696
OpenAlexW2801056972

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.