Abstract

SA.09.08

Course of thickness of human lamellar corneal grafts during deswelling in the cornea bank

Burkhard von Jagow1, Armin Wolf2, Carlo Lackerbauer2, Thomas Kohnen1, Martin Grüterich2
1Augenklinik, Klinikum der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt/Main, 2Augenklinik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München

Objective
This study investigates the impact of deswelling time on the resulting thickness of the anterior and posterior lamellae of human lamellar corneal grafts.
Methods
Lamellar graft from 10 paired human seropositive corneas were prepared using the Moria mikrokeratome system (Moria, France) and the Amadeus II (AMO, USA) with a 350µm plate. One cornea of a pair was cut after a certain time (0hrs, 24hrs, 36hrs) in the deswelling medium and the other was cut after complete deswelling (72hrs).
All grafts were observed for 72hrs in the deswelling medium.
The course of the total thickness and lamellar thickness was measured using the OCT1 (Humphrey, Carl-Zeiss Meditec and the SL-OCT (Heidelberg Engineering).
Results
The mean central corneal thickness before deswelling was 1164±107µm decreased to 586±67µm after 72hrs deswelling (50%). The time of the lamellar cut did not effect the total thickness after deswelling.
The anterior lamellar was 313µm using the Morea Mk and 344µm using the Amadeus II when measured directly after the preparation. The anterior lamella decreased maximum by 40% (cut at 0hrs). The posterior lamella decreased maximum 58% (cut at 0hrs). The proportion of the anterior and posterior lamella was different for the different times of preparation: 1:0.78 (0h), 1:0.83 (24h), 1:0.93 (36h) and 1:1.30 (72h).
Conclusions
The deswelling procress has significant impact on the thickness of the anterior and posterior lamellae. To obtain reliable thickness results the preparation should be performed after complete deswelling.

Copyright: 2009 Porstmann Kongresse GmbH. All rights reserved. Impressum, Disclaimer.