Bertelmann E., Jaroszewski J., Rieck P.

Dept. of Ophthalmology, Charité Campus Virchow Hospital, Humboldt University, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin

Purpose: By today, organ culture is the standard procedure for conservation of donor corneal grafts. The purpose of this study was to reveal donor related factors that are of influence on endothelial cell damage occurring during culture.
Methods: Data of 200 donors of corneal grafts cultivated consecutively in the Cornea Bank Berlin were collected and statistical analysis was performed. We focused on 100 multi-organ donors (MO) and 100 single organ donors (SO). Collected data included donor age, time between death and corneal preparation for culture, diagnosis and duration of organ culture. For statistical analysis x-square test was used.
Results: 17 % of MO grafts and 21 % of SO grafts had to be excluded from transplantation at the end of culture time due to endothelial cell damage. Mean age of MO was 47.2 years, of SO 60.6 years. There was no correlation between donor age and death-culture-time and the rate of endothelial cell damage neither in the complete group nor in the MO and EO group. The donor diagnosis traumatic brain injury was correlated to higher rate of endothelial cell damage during corneal organ culture.
Conclusion: Of the analysed factors only the donor diagnosis brain injury is correlated to a higher rate of endothelial cell damage during culture. A possible explanation is is a subclinical damage of the corneal endothelium during injury. In this context an advantage of organ culture is to exclucde corneal grafts with primarily unvisible endothelial cell damage.

Copyright © Deutsche Ophthalmologische Gesellschaft, 2001. All rights reserved.

Last updated: 

Webdesign: SPALLEK.COM