Comparison between assessment of donor tissue in eye banks and specular microscopy in the recipient is important to quantify the post-keratoplasty cell loss dynamics. Our aim was to determine the agreement between the in vivo non-contact specular microscope Topcon SP2000P and the computer-assisted eye bank endothelial analyser Sambacornea. We enrolled 51 future recipients of penetrating keratoplasty, and determined the endothelial cell density (ECD) and morphometry firstly in vivo with Topcon and then ex vivo with Sambacornea on the excised cornea stained with Alizarin Red. Specular microscopy was found to underestimate the ECD by 11%, (95% CI 6 to 15), whereas morphometric parameters did not differ.

Background

Endothelial cell loss after penetrating keratoplasty is commonly evaluated by non-contact specular microscopy. A comparison of tissue assessment in eye banks and that by specular microscopy in the recipient is important to quantify the postoperative cell loss dynamics. In Europe, where organ culture is common, preoperative endothelial cell density (ECD) is assessed either by manual counting by observation through a microscope reticule or by using computer-assisted analysers.^1– …