Abstract
Purpose :
To determine the effect of head trauma on corneal endothelial cell density (ECD) in eye bank donors greater than or equal to age 50.
Methods :
This is a retrospective study of 128 corneas from donors with causes of death secondary to head trauma: gunshot wound (GSW) to the head (n=26), motor vehicle accident (MVA) (n=33), a fall with sustained head trauma (n=47), and non-head trauma related deaths (n=22). Donor characteristics, ECD, and focal endothelial cell loss on specular microscopy were examined between the groups. A linear mixed effects model and a mixed effects logistic regression were used to compare ECD and examine the association between head trauma and endothelial cell loss.
Results :
The average ECD in the head trauma group was 2,471 ± 342 cells/mm2 and 2,588 ± 282 cells/mm2 in the non-head trauma group (p value= 0.24). The difference in ECD between the two groups was -105 ± 112 cells/mm2 (p value= 0.35). The odds of having focal endothelial cell loss were not statistically significant (p value= 0.57) between the groups.
Conclusions :
There were no differences in endothelial cell density between the head trauma and non-head trauma groups.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.