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Updated: Jun 22, 2026
Corneal Donor Tissue Preparation for Descemet's Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty
Published on: September 17, 2014
[Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK): two-year results]
1Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. isadapena@gmail.com
Purpose:
To report the two-year results of Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) for managing corneal endothelial disorders.
Methods:
Non-randomized prospective clinical trial. A DMEK was performed in ten patients with Fuchs' endothelial dystrophy or bullous keratopathy. A 3.5 mm clear corneal incision was made and "under air" DM was stripped off from the posterior stroma. A 9.0 mm diameter, organ cultured donor DM roll was inserted into a recipient anterior chamber, positioned into the posterior stroma and secured by completely filling the anterior chamber with air for 30 minutes.
Results:
Three eyes showed complete detachment of the tissue; this was managed by a secondary Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty procedure. The remaining seven eyes had a best corrected visual acuity of >or=0.7 in three eyes (43%) at one month, in five eyes (71%) at six months, and in six eyes (86%) at one and two years. At six months, the endothelial cell density averaged 2039 (+/-373) cells/mm2 (n=7), at one year 1925 (+/-267) cells/mm2 (n=7) and at two years 1730 (+/-400) cells/mm2 (n=6).
Conclusions:
DMEK may provide quick and nearly complete visual rehabilitation. Since the donor tissue can be stripped from donor corneo-scleral rims, the procedure may be readily accessible to most corneal surgeons.
