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Updated: Mar 24, 2026
Corneal Donor Tissue Preparation for Descemet's Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty
Published on: September 17, 2014
Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty using corneas from elderly donors
Satoru Nakatani1, Akira Murakami2
1Department of Ophthalmology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-1-3 Hongo Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan, 113-8431. satoru-n@juntendo.ac.jp.
Purpose:
To evaluate the outcomes of Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) using corneas from elderly donors.
Methods:
A total of 90 eyes that underwent DSAEK at Juntendo University Hospital between January 2008 and December 2012 were divided into two groups. Group 1 was eyes that received corneas from elderly donors aged 80 years or older (29 eyes), and group 2 was eyes that received corneas from donors aged 79 years or younger (61 eyes). Patient characteristics and visual acuity, endothelial cell density, and postoperative complications at 2 years after surgery were examined retrospectively.
Results:
The mean age of the donors was 86.3 ± 28.9 years (range, 80-98 years) in group 1 and 62.1 ± 23.2 years (range, 26-79 years) in group 2. At 2 years after surgery, median logMAR visual acuity was 0.48 ± 0.38 in group 1 and 0.42 ± 0.47 in group 2, while the median loss of endothelial cell density was 38.9 ± 22.5 % and 39.7 ± 23.8 %, respectively. There was no significant difference between the two groups for all the parameters.
Conclusions:
The rate of endothelial cell loss at 2 years after surgery was similar regardless of donor age (≥80 years vs ≤79 years). It seems reasonable to use corneas from donors aged 80 years or older for DSAEK provided the selection criteria are fulfilled.
