In situ donor keratometry in deceased patients as a novel screening technique for eye banking

To investigate the potential role of keratometry on whole globes in situ of deceased patients by assessing its repeatability and comparing it with sterile donor tomography after excision and preservation in organ culture.

A sequence of 5 measurements was taken from 40 eyes in situ of deceased patients < 24 h after death using the portable Retinomax K-plus 3 (Bon, Tokyo, Japan). Keratometry of whole globes in situ, from which sclerocorneal discs were taken for organ culture, was compared to those obtained after measuring these sclerocorneal disks through their cell culture flask in medium I after 5 ± 4 days using the anterior segment optical coherence tomograph Casia 2 (Tomey Corp., Nagoya, Japan), and to 964 different donor corneas in medium II.

Cronbach's alpha of the in situ keratometry was 0.891 and 0.942 for the steepest and flattest corneal power (P). The steepest (44.5D) and flattest (41.1D) P as well as the astigmatism (3.4D) of in situ corneas remained unchanged after preserving sclerocorneal discs in medium I (respectively 44.7D [p = 0.09]; 41.4D [p = 0.17]; 3.3D [p = 0.09]). The comparison of the in situ values with the 964 measured different donor corneas in medium II showed significantly (p < 0.001) higher P at the steep (45.4D) and flat (43.9D) meridian and smaller astigmatism (1.4D) for sterile donor tomography.

Measuring deceased patients' eyes in situ with the portable Retinomax K-plus 3 represents a feasible and reliably repeatable screening method in the eye bank. In comparison to donor tomography in medium I, it measures a similar power and astigmatism.