Quality of corneal donor tissue in the greater-than-75-year age group

To evaluate the quality of the corneal donor tissue in the greater than 75 year age group with regard to the suitability for transplantation.

Fifty consecutive donor corneas from the > 75-year age group were assessed at the Minnesota Lions Eye Bank with slit-lamp examination and specular microscopy.

Thirty-five of the donor corneas were from phakic eyes and 15 were from pseudophakic eyes. There was a highly significant difference (p < 0.05) in the endothelial counts found in the donor corneas from the phakic corneas (average, 2,253.4 +/- 428.9) compared to the pseudophakic eyes (average, 1,701.7 +/- 548.2). There was a highly significant difference (p < 0.05) between the corneal ratings in the phakic and pseudophakic groups, with the phakic group receiving much better (lower) ratings. None of the 15 pseudophakic donor corneas was found to be suitable for transplantation based on a corneal rating of < or = 2, whereas 17 of the 35 phakic eye (48.6%) were found to be suitable for transplantation. From the phakic eyes, 10 of 20 corneas (50.0%) were acceptable in the 76-80-year age group, four of 10 corneas (40.0%) were acceptable in the 81-85-year age group, two of three corneas (66.7%) were acceptable in the 86-90-year age group, and one of two corneas (50.0%) was acceptable in the 91-95-year age group.

The results of this laboratory study suggest that many older donor corneas from phakic eyes may be suitable for corneal transplantation.