Abstract
Purpose:
To evaluate the potential impact of two different storage media on corneal endothelial cell density during organ culture preservation.
Methods:
Retrospective analysis of organ-cultured human corneas selected for corneal grafting over a period of 4 years. All corneal-scleral discs were organ-cultured for up to 4 weeks at 32 degrees C. Corneas were cultured either in storage medium 1, (Dulbecco Modified Eagle Medium, Biochrom; group 1) or medium 2 (CorneaMax Medium, Eurobio; group 2). Endothelial cell densities (ECD) were determined at the beginning and at the end of organ-culture preservation. In addition, the potential impact of sex, donor age, cause of death, death-to-cultivation interval, and organ-culture time was analyzed.
Results:
Both groups did not show statistic significant differences in regard to initial endothelial cell density, donor age, death-to-cultivation interval, and organ-culture time. During organ-culture, endothelial cell density decreased significantly in both groups. The mean overall endothelial cell loss was 13.3% in group 1 and 9.9% in group 2, respectively. Differences were statistical significant between the two groups.
Conclusions:
Organ-culture is well-established, standardized, and safe technique for preservation of human corneal tissue. Current storage media allow endothelial cell survival with sufficient endothelial cell densities for up to 4 to 5 weeks. However, slight differences may exist in regard to individual storage media.
Keywords: 481 cornea: endothelium •
483 cornea: storage •
467 clinical laboratory testing