DescePrep Significantly Increases Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty Processing Efficiency and Success Rate in Diabetic Human Donor Corneas in Comparison With Manual Dissection.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the safety, efficacy, and efficiency of a Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) graft processing device, DescePrep, with a manual dissection technique through the measurement of tissue yield, processing time, and graft viability in nondiabetic and diabetic donor corneas. METHODS: Nondiabetic (n = 20) and diabetic (n = 20) donor corneas were processed using DescePrep, which standardizes the liquid bubble technique. Nondiabetic (n = 20) and diabetic (n = 24) donor corneas were also processed through manual dissection. Corneas were stained, processed, and then evaluated for processing success rate and time. Randomly selected corneas (n = 5, each) were evaluated for cell viability using live/dead staining. RESULTS: One hundred percent of nondiabetic and 95% of diabetic corneas were processed successfully with DescePrep in an average of 3.37 minutes. Ninety percent of nondiabetic and 50% of diabetic corneas were processed successfully with manual dissection in an average of 9.87 minutes. DescePrep had a significantly lower processing time ( P < 0.0001) and significantly higher success rate in comparison with manual dissection. DescePrep grafts had an average cell viability of 91.1% ± 3.3% in nondiabetic and 91.5% ± 2.4% in diabetic corneas. Grafts prepared with manual dissection had an average cell viability of 89.5% ± 5.8% in nondiabetic and 88.1% ± 4.3% in diabetic corneas. CONCLUSIONS: DescePrep provides a more effective and efficient method of cornea preparation in comparison with the current standard, particularly in diabetic corneas, while providing comparable cell viability. Thus, DescePrep offers standardized DMEK processing that produces high-quality grafts at high yields, with the potential to expand access and improve the quality of DMEK graft preparation in a larger pool of donors.

Evaluation of Efficacy, Efficiency, and Cell Viability of a Novel Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty Graft Preparation Device, DescePrep, in Nondiabetic and Diabetic Human Donor Corneas.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and efficiency of a Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) graft preparation device, DescePrep, through measurement of graft viability, yield, and preparation time in both healthy and diabetic (high-risk) donor eyes. METHODS: Twenty nondiabetic and 10 diabetic donor corneas were processed using DescePrep, which standardizes the liquid bubble technique. Corneas were stained with trypan blue and then processed. Cell counts through specular microscopy, optical coherence tomography imaging, and slit-lamp analysis were used for the evaluation of graft separation and viability in 5 nondiabetic corneas. The remaining 25 corneas (15 nondiabetic and 10 diabetic) were evaluated for preparation success rate and processing time. Ten corneas (5 nondiabetic and 5 diabetic) were randomly selected for further evaluation of global cell loss through staining. RESULTS: Ninety-seven percent of corneas (29 of 30) were prepared successfully with DescePrep. The average preparation time was 2.83 ± 1.8 minutes. There was no significant difference in the time of preparation between the nondiabetic and diabetic groups (P = 0.077). The overall average cell death after processing was 7.9% ± 3.7% for all corneas. There was no significant difference in cell viability between diabetic and nondiabetic tissues after DescePrep processing (P = 0.769). CONCLUSIONS: DescePrep is a new DMEK preparation technique that can process both nondiabetic and diabetic donor corneas at high yields in minutes. High-yield preparation of diabetic corneas may offer eye banks access to a larger donor pool, which is important because the demand for DMEK grafts continues to rise worldwide.