Impact of donor age on Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) outcome: Evaluation of donors aged 17 - 55 years.

Young donors have been regarded less suitable for Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK). The purpose was to investigate whether this impression of DMEK surgeons is reflected in 1-year postoperative results. Retrospective, comparative, interventional case series. Records of 1084 consecutive DMEKs were reviewed and matched with corresponding donor tissue data. Young donors (age ≤ 55 years; subgroups: 10 - 40, and 41 - 55) were compared to old donors (> 55 years; subgroups: 56 - 65, and > 65). Outcome measures in DMEK recipients included best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), endothelial cell density (ECD), central corneal thickness (CCT) at 6 and 12 months, and re-bubbling rate. Out of 529 included DMEKs, 94 (17.8%) were performed with young donor lamellae (mean donor age 49.31 ± 6.35 years; range: 17 - 55) and 435 (82.2%) with older donor tissue (mean age 70.68 ± 7.77 years; range: 56 - 90). Postoperative BSCVA, ECD and CCT results were comparable in both groups at 6 and 12 months without statistically significant differences. Overall re-bubbling rate in young donor group was 42.6%, and in the old donors 53.3% (P = .058). Complication rates also did not differ significantly. Younger donor age seems not to affect the clinical outcome of DMEK surgery negatively within the first postoperative year, suggesting donor corneas with donor age down to 17 years as safe donor tissue for DMEK surgery. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Citation

Friederike Schaub, Philip Enders, Jonas Zachewicz, Ludwig M Heindl, Tisha P Stanzel, Claus Cursiefen, Björn O Bachmann. Impact of donor age on Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) outcome: Evaluation of donors aged 17 - 55 years. American journal of ophthalmology. 2016 Aug 10

PMID: 27521609

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