Preserving cornea graft transplants


This month’s edition of Archives of Ophthalmology comes with news from a team of researchers at the Cornea Donor Study Investigator Group that they appear to have found that a previous beneficial element required for cornea donors, may not be as significant as first presumed. Until now it was thought that endothelial cells would allow a solid prediction for the success of the cornea transplant; however this team of researchers has found no correlation between the number of endothelial cells in the donators cornea and transplant success.

Previously, much emphasis has been placed on cornea donors needing to have as higher amount of endothelial cells as possible. This was due to the role that the cells play in the maintenance of a healthy cornea; as they help stop swelling, keeping the cornea clear. This evidently limited the number of resources that the donor banks had, as pressure was placed upon receiving donations with much higher endothelial cells. That was until the Specular Microscopy Ancillary Study (a division of the Cornea Donor Study) discovered that as long as the cornea donations were of the minimum requirement, 2,000 endothelial cells per mm2, there was no difference in the patient’s chance of success five years down the line. It is in fact the endothelial cell count of the receiver of the cornea donation, six months after their surgery, which provides a much better indication of the success rate.

With more than one hundred various people involved in this extensive research, it appears some of their hard work is finally paying off. Not only do surgeons now know to monitor these cells closely six months post-surgery, but the donation pool for cornea’s has grown dramatically to include everyone with at least 2,000 endothelial cells per mm2, which includes many of us.

13th January 2010

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