title: A quantitative method to evaluate the donor corneal tissue quality used in a comparative study between two hypothermic preservation media.
abstract: To standardize a new evaluation technique for calculating the overall quality (OQ) of the donor cornea and validate it using a comparative study of corneas preserved in Optisol-GS and Cornea Cold®. Thirty pairs of donor corneas were selected for a 4 week in vitro comparative study using masked observers. Physiological parameters like thickness, transparency, viable endothelial cell density (VECD) and morphology were transformed to numerical range (0-4) to obtain the OQ. Microbiological examination was performed using Bactec instrument. Students t test showed statistically better results (p < 0.05) from week 3 for thickness, week 2 for transparency and week 1 for morphology and VECD; statistical significance (p < 0.05) was found for OQ from week 2 for the corneas preserved in Cornea Cold® compared to Optisol-GS. Epithelial quality was similar regardless of the medium. Microbiological examination showed absence of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms in both media. OQ method is efficient, consistent and easy, now validated for comparative studies. Further refinement is necessary for its use at eye-banks, bio-banks and research or transplantation purposes. Cornea Cold® is a promising hypothermic corneal storage medium with preservation time ≤21 days. This permits higher flexibility, evaluation accuracy, longer duration for surgical preparation and ease of transportation.
authors.affiliation: International Center for Ocular Physiopathology (ICOP), The Veneto Eye Bank Foundation, Padiglione Rama-Via Paccagnella 11, 30174, Zelarino, Venice, Italy, mohit.parekh@fbov.it.
authors.forename: Mohit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Parekh
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Salvalaio
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: Marie-Claude
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Amoureux
authors.forename: Cecile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Albrecht
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fortier
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ponzin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002452:Cell Count; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates / Q000494:pharmacology; D045424:Complex Mixtures / Q000494:pharmacology; D003315:Cornea / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects*; D016039:Corneal Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods*; D003451:Cryoprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003911:Dextrans / Q000494:pharmacology; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D005125:Eye Banks / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D005839:Gentamicins / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011786:Quality Control; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D009927:Tissue and Organ Procurement / Q000592:standards
chemical_list: D045424:Complex Mixtures; D003451:Cryoprotective Agents; D003911:Dextrans; D005839:Gentamicins; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates; C075736:Optisol