DECODE VRL Report No. 1: Lymphocyte Survival After Diagnostic Vitrectomy – Does Size Matter?

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess whether vitrectomy size and cutting rate have an impact on cell survival of healthy lymphocytes and lymphoma cells during diagnostic vitrectomy in an in vitro model. Methods: In the first experiment, healthy lymphocytes were isolated from blood samples of one healthy individual. In the second experiment, cultivated MYD88-positive lymphoma cells derived from a commercially available cell line were used. Suspensions with defined cell concentrations (1 × 103 cells/mL, 1 × 104 cells/mL, and 1 × 106 cells/mL) were subjected to vitrectomy under controlled conditions, using aspiration only or varying cutting rates of 1500/minutes and 5000/minutes with vitrectomy sizes of 20G, 23G, 25G, and 27G. Three technical replicates were performed for each condition. Cell integrity in post-vitrectomy samples was assessed via fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). To verify statistically significant differences between groups, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used. Results: No correlation was observed between lymphocyte survival and either gauge size or lower cutting rates in healthy lymphocytes. However, a significant correlation between vitrectomy size and cell survival was observed for lymphoma cells (Kendall's tau τ = -0.253, P = 0.00048, Kruskal-Wallis χ² = 13.337, P = 0.00396). Conclusions: Our study found that larger vitrectomy lumen diameters were associated with higher lymphoma cell survival rates, suggesting the use of 23G and 25G instruments in clinical practice for suspected cases. Translational Relevance: This clinical research should provide a guideline for the investigation of suspected lymphoma cases.