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Updated: May 13, 2026
Corneal Donor Tissue Preparation for Descemet's Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty
Published on: September 17, 2014
Descemet-stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty donor tissue preparation using the double-pass microkeratome
Aaron Waite1, Richard Davidson, Michael J Taravella
1University of Colorado Health Science Center, Aurora, Colorado 80045, USA.
Purpose:
To compare human donor corneal lenticule thickness, endothelial cell viability, area of cell damage, and cell counts between corneal tissue prepared with a double-pass microkeratome cut versus the standard single-pass microkeratome cut.
Setting:
University of Colorado Teaching Hospital, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
Design:
Experimental study.
Methods:
Eleven matched pairs of human donor corneas unfit for transplantation were used for analysis. Tissue was prepared using a Moria CB microkeratome and artificial anterior chamber. One cornea was prepared using the standard single-pass cut; the second cornea was prepared with a double-pass technique. Visante optical coherence tomography images were obtained from each cornea, and central and peripheral thickness measurements were made. The tissue was also stained with trypan blue and alizarin red to assess tissue damage from preparation.
Results:
The mean central thickness measurement was 92 μm ± 20 (SD) for the double-pass technique and 126 ± 34 μm for the single-pass technique. The area of cell damage after preparation was not significantly different between the 2 methods; however, there was a statistically significant increase in the ratio of nonviable to viable cells for the double-pass technique.
Conclusion:
The double-pass microkeratome technique for donor preparation resulted in a thinner lenticule than a single-pass technique and an increase in endothelial cell damage.
