Abstract
Purpose:
This study was conducted to compare the quantitative and qualitative indices of the donated corneas maintained in Optisol GS with those kept in Eusol C storage media.
Methods:
In an ante-grade single blind study, two corneas from each donor with a death to preservation time of less than 30 hours and with a minimum of “an apparent good cornea rating” were maintained in corneal storage media; randomly one in Optisol GS and the other in Eusol C. Slit-lamp biomicroscopic and specular microscopic examinations were performed on days 1 and 7. The results of the qualitative and quantitative indices and the final cornea rating were recorded. Statistical analyses were performed to evaluate any differences between the two media.
Results:
180 corneas from 90 donors with an age range of 29.3±22.4 years were entered into the study: 90 corneas in Optisol GS and the other 90 in Eusol C. No specular images were obtainable on day 7 in 5 of the corneas maintained in Optisol GS and 4 of those corneas in Eusol C, but based on slit-lamp biomicroscopic examinations they were rated fair. The endothelial cell density of the corneas preserved in Optisol GS on both day 1 and day 7 were significantly higher than those maintained in Eusol C (P=0.007 and P=0.046 respectively). Significant endothelial cell vacuolation was observed by day 7 but more frequently seen in the corneas preserved in Eusol C than those in Optisol GS (P=0.014). As the maintenance time of the donated corneas increased there was no significant difference noted between the cornea rating, endothelial pleomorphism, polymegathism and mean cell area, stromal edema and Descemet’s folds of the two groups.
Conclusions:
This study shows the superiority of Optisol GS over Eusol C in terms of maintaining a higher endothelial cell density and a lower rate of endothelial vacuolation when the maintenance time increases. Such superiority may be due to the presence of some antioxidant compounds in the Optisol GS. However, it seems that Eusol C can still be a suitable choice for the eye banks that have a high turnover rate of corneas with a short preservation time before transplantation.
Keywords: 481 cornea: endothelium