Influence of donor age and post-mortem time on the metabolic profile of donor corneas and graft survival

Abstract

Evaluation of: Kryczka T, Szaflik JP, Szaflik J, Midelfart A. Influence of donor age, post-mortem time and cold storage on metabolic profile of human cornea. Acta Ophthalmol. doi:10.1111/j.1755-3768.2011.02271 (2011) (Epub ahead of print).

Donor corneas are stored in eye banks and are selected to provide consistent good-quality tissue for transplantation. Endothelial cell count (ECC) is a major factor in determining its suitability; however, donor- and recipient-related risk factors may affect the long-term graft survival. The paper under evaluation confirmed that old donor corneas have a different metabolic profile compared with young donors in unpreserved and cold-storage preservation. It also found that a longer death-to-preservation interval (DPI) changes the metabolic profile only in unpreserved corneas and that cold storage may reduce the metabolic differences between shorter and longer DPIs. However, the significance of donor age and DPI on long-term graft survival is controversial and variable in different series. A continuous ECC loss is observed after transplantation and more than half of graft failures are because of late graft failure (chronic ECC loss) or graft rejection. A better understanding of these metabolic changes and their implications on the chronic ECC loss observed after transplantation is needed.

Keywords::

• cold storage
• cornea transplantation
• death-to-preservation interval
• donor age
• donor cornea
• graft survival
• human cornea
• metabolic profile
• NMR spectroscopy
• post-mortem time

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.