Fort Lauderdale, Fl. (May 6, 2012) — Eye banks are able to prepare and load corneal tissue into intraocular endothelium injector cartridges, and successfully transport them to surgical centers ready for transplant. The findings were presented today at the 2012 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting.
About the Study
Eight corneal buttons were prepared at the Lions Eye Institute for Transplant & Research (LEITR), Tampa, FL, for Descemet’s stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) using an automated microkeratome and 8.5mm trephines. The tissue was loaded into intraocular endothelium injector cartridges (Tan EndoGlide, Angiotech) and shipped overnight. For the control group, two precut corneas were transported without injector loading. The control group was trephined and immediately loaded into injector cartridges on-site.
The endothelium of the grafts was stained with trypan blue 0.4 percent and alizarin red S 0.5 percent. Each button was imaged using a Carl Zeiss Stemi SV11 dissecting microscope. Whole graft images were analyzed and the percentage of endothelial damage was measured. The findings showed that the preloaded corneal buttons demonstrated an average of 9.07 percent damage to endothelial cells, while the control group revealed an average of 36.2 percent damage. The difference in endothelial damage between the preloaded and control buttons was statistically significant (p=0.004).
“These initial findings look very promising for the future of corneal transplants,” says David C. Gritz, MD, MPH, Director of Cornea and Uveitis Divisions, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Montefiore Medical Center. Albert Einstein College of Medicine. “Allowing eye banks to handle the tissue preparation and injector preloading may allow for increased precision and reproducibility that would result in decreased surgical time and better patient outcomes. More studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these results.” “As demonstrated in 2006 with the advent of microkeratome-prepared corneal lamellar grafts in a centralized facility, eye banks have proven their ability to change industry practice for the better,” adds Patrick Gore, RN, CEBT, Director, Business Development, Lions Eye Institute for Transplant & Research. “Further eye bank studies assessing various eye bank preparations, storage techniques, and devices are ongoing to determine if preloading grafts in injector cartridges prior to transport is a viable option.
Source: Chuck R, Gritz D, Herzlich A, Prince-Wolfish J, Mozayan A, Zhang C, Gore S, Sprehe N, Eye Bank Preparation, Injector Cartridge Preloading, Shipping and Cold Storage of DSAEK Grafts: A Laboratory Study of Endothelial Survival. 2012 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting.
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