Deswelling kinetics in CorneaJet of organ cultured human corneas.

Purpose: The deswelling of a corneal graft at the end of storage in the eye bank is essential before perforating or deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty to allow good donor/recipient congruence and to accelerate visual recovery. In France, CorneaJet (Eurobio, France) containing 5% Dextran T500 is the most commonly used medium, but its deswelling kinetics is not referenced and the duration of 48 or 72 hr is chosen purely by habit while the increase in endothelial toxicity over time is documented. Aim: To determine the corneal deswelling kinetics in CorneaJet. Methods: 12 corneas discarded by our eye bank were used. They had an endothelial cell density at reception (day 2 to day 4) of 1713 ± 389 cell/mm2 (mean ± SD). All had been stored in organoculture in CorneaMax medium at 31°C for at least 1 week. The corneas were immersed in 50 ml vials of CorneaJet (same batch) and were stored at 31°C. Central corneal thickness (CCT in µm) and central corneal volume (on an 8mm disc, CCV8 in mm3) were measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT, Casia I, Tomey, Japan). Transparency was evaluated on a prototype measuring contrast transmission (relative scale in %). Measurements were performed before immersion in CorneaJet and repeated at hour (H)3, H6, H9, H12, H18, H24, H30, H36 and H48. Results: All data were expressed as mean ± SD respectively at the different times. CCT: 1284 ± 249; 1031 ± 233; 897 ± 22; 773 ± 160; 741 ± 123; 673 ± 75; 626 ± 27; 638 ± 41; 645 ± 49; 652 ± 55. CCV8: 73 ± 9; 61 ± 9; 53 ± 9; 47 ± 8; 44 ± 6; 40 ± 4; 38 ± 3; 37 ± 3; 37 ± 3 and 37 ± 3. Transparency: 13 ± 4; 19 ± 5; 24 ± 6; 29 ± 6; 33 ± 7; 40 ± 7 41 ± 7; 44 ± 9; 45 ± 8 and 44 ± 11. Conclusions: Corneal deswelling in CorneaJet is rapid during the first 12 hr and reaches a plateau at 20 hr. After 20 hr, transparency and thickness are ideal for surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]