Younger Donor Tissue in Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty Surgery: Clinical Outcomes

Purpose: To determine whether using younger donor tissue for Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) surgery influences clinical outcomes. Methods: Scroll tightness, unscrolling time, rebubble rate, and preoperative and 3- and 6-month postoperative endothelial cell density (ECD) and endothelial cell loss (ECL) were compared for 661 DMEK grafts prepared from younger (aged younger than 50 yrs, n = 81) and older donors (aged 50 yrs or older, n = 580) with Student t test, χ2 test, or Mann–Whitney U test. Results: There was no difference in overall unscrolling time (younger donors: 3.1 ± 3.1 min, older donor: 2.9 ± 2.7 min, P = 0.503). Experienced faculty surgeons, compared with fellows, had a significantly lower unscrolling times for both younger donors (2.4 ± 2.3 vs. 4.6 ± 3.9 min, P = 0.002) and older donors (2.5 ± 2.1 vs. 3.7 ± 3.3 min, P
Source: Cornea - Category: Opthalmology Tags: Clinical Science Source Type: research