Evaluation of New Technique for Preparation of Endothelial Grafts for DMEK

Brissette, Ashley

Evaluation of New Technique for Preparation of Endothelial Grafts for DMEK

Tuesday, April 29, 2014: 9:06 AM

Room 152 (Boston Convention and Exhibition Center)

Ashley R. Brissette, MD, Queens university, Kingston, ON, Canada

Ronan J. Conlon, MD, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Season Tse Wing Yeung, MBBS, FRANZCO, The University of Ottawa Eye Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Joshua C. Teichman, MD, MPH, University of Ottawa Eye Institute, Oakville, ON, Canada

Salina Teja, MD, University of Ottawa Eye Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Kashif Baig, MD, MBA, Ottawa Eye Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Narrative Responses:

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to compare a new method for preparing endothelial grafts for DMEK, known as the Muraine technique, to the SCUBA peeling technique.

Methods
Ten donor corneas were prepared in a wet-lab setting for DMEK using the Muraine technique, and 10 were prepared using the SCUBA technique. The primary outcome measure will be the change in endothelial cell density (ECD) compared between the two techniques. The secondary outcome measure will be time required to prepare the endothelial graft.

Results
By comparing the two techniques, SCUBA peeling technique (8.56 ± 0.97 minutes) was faster than the Muraine technique (9.09 ± 0.73 minutes) when both were used to prepare an endothelial donor graft, however the results were not statistically significant. There were a total of 3 tears in each group, but no grafts were lost during the preparation. The comparison of endothelial cell density of each group will be discussed.

Conclusion
The present study demonstrated the Muraine technique is an effective alternative method in harvesting endothelial donor grafts. The preparation time and complication rates were similar for both the standard (SCUBA) and the Muraine technique.