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Study: Corneas from older donors suitable for transplantation
SAN DIEGO — Corneas from donors between the ages of 76 years and 85 years were suitable for transplantation, according to a study presented at the World Cornea Congress here.
“Older age corneas from 76 to 85 years old are suitable for transplant and helped to meet demand for donor corneas domestically and internationally. Of course, they help to reduce donor cornea shortages for transplant,” Eric Abdullayev, MD, MBA, CEBT, said. “It’s a tradition that eye banks do not recover corneas from such old donors.”
Eric Abdullayev
The study included 607 corneas from donors between the ages of 76 years and 85 years; 310 corneas (51%) were from phakic donors and 297 corneas (49%) were from pseudophakic donors.
The corneas were stored in Eusol-C corneal storage media (Alchimia) at 2°C to 8°C for up to 14 days. The synthetic agent is approved by the FDA and has antimicrobial properties similar to those of Optisol-GS (Bausch + Lomb), Abdullayev said.
Of the 607 corneas, 364 (60%) were transplanted and 243 (40%) were not transplanted; 82% of grafts were used for penetrating keratoplasty, 15% for Descemet’s stripping endothelial keratoplasty and 3% for anterior lamellar keratoplasty.
Specular microscopy showed an average endothelial cell density of 2,858 cells/mm2 in phakic donor grafts and 2,320 cells/mm2 in pseudophakic grafts.
OCT showed an average central corneal thickness of 562 µm.
There were no inflammatory complications at 3 months, and visual acuity improved in 90% of recipients. - by Matt Hasson
Disclosure: Abdullayev reports no relevant financial disclosures.