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Updated: Apr 18, 2026
Corneal Donor Tissue Preparation for Descemet's Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty
Published on: September 17, 2014
Impact of Donor Age on Corneal Endothelium-Descemet Membrane Layer Scroll Formation
Adam Bennett1, Shahira Mahmoud, Donna Drury
1Department of Ophthalmology (A.B., W.M.P., V.V.M.), UT Southwestern, Dallas, TX; Department of Ophthalmology (S.M.), Alexandria Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria, Egypt; and Transplantation Services (D.D., H.D.C., J.P.M.), UT Southwestern, Dallas, TX.
Objective:
To correlate corneal endothelium-Descemet membrane (EDM) layer parameters of scroll tightness with donor age, endothelial cell density (ECD), and history of diabetes.
Methods:
Endothelium-Descemet membrane layer scrolls were harvested from 26 corneoscleral buttons using the SCUBA technique by a cornea-fellowship trained ophthalmologist masked to donor age. Two independent outcome parameters were used to characterize the scrolling severity of successfully harvested tissue: scroll width and tendency for EDM scroll formation (referred to as scroll rating on a 1-4 scale: incomplete scroll formation to tightly scrolled).
Results:
Mean donor age was 59 ± 17 (15-69) years. Mean ECD of EDM scroll was 2,451 ± 626 (range: 1,307-3,195) cells per square millimeter. Using stepwise linear regression, a significant correlation was found between scroll width and donor age (R=0.497, P<0.05). Additionally, a significant inverse correlation was found between scroll width and ECD (R=-0.605, P<0.05). There was no statistically significant correlation between a donor history of diabetes and the parameters of scrolling tendency.
Conclusions:
Our data suggest that using older donors reduces EDM scroll tightness.
