New Device for Preparation of Donor Corneal Tissue During Boston Keratoprosthesis Surgery
Narrative Responses:
Purpose
To assess centration accuracy and precision of an adapter used in trephination, developed for Boston Keratoprosthesis donor cornea tissue preparation.
Methods
Thirty corneoscleral rims were trephined. Ten donor corneas were prepared by trephining the 8mm cut followed by the 3mm cut (Group 1). Ten corneas were prepared by trephining the 3mm cut followed by the 8mm cut (Group 2). Ten corneas were prepared by using our adapter which allows for the cuts to be made almost simultaneously (Group 3). The centration of the two cuts were measured using computer software (ImageJ, US National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD). Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed using Stata 13 (StataCorp LP, College Station, TX).
Results
The corneal grafts prepared in Group 1 had a mean distance between the centers of the two cuts of 0.388mm (SD 0.109). The grafts prepared in Group 2 had a mean decentration of 0.135mm (SD 0.056). The simultaneous method of trephination revealed a mean decentration of 0.185mm (SD 0.042). There was a statistically significant difference in centration between Group 1 and Group 2 (p < 0.001). There was a statistically significant difference in centration between Group 1 and Group 3 (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in centration between Group 2 and Group 3 (p=0.433).
Conclusion
Our study demonstrates that a device, which cuts the corneal tissue simultaneously, yields more predictable grafts for Boston Kpro surgery and with further improvement on centration, may be an idea method to prepare the device for surgery.