Post-mortem corneal endothelial survival after sex-mismatch Descemet's membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK)

Session Details

Session Title: Cornea
Session Date/Time: Friday 10/02/2017 | 08:30-10:00
Paper Time: 09:42
Venue: Brussels Room 0.4

First Author: V.Zygoura THE NETHERLANDS
Co Author(s): I. Lavy  R. Verdijk  M. Bruinsma  S. Oellerich   P. Binder  G. Melles   

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To determine whether the corneal endothelial cells present within DMEK grafts were of host or donor origin, using fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) of sex-chromosomes on postmortem DMEK corneas that had been transplanted with a sex-mismatched graft.

Setting:

Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery / Tertiary referral center.

Methods:

Corneo-scleral buttons of six post mortem DMEK eyes of four patients, operated for Fuchs endothelial dystrophy were processed for FISH detection of XX (female) or XY (male) labelling signals in corneal endothelial cells. Two male patients underwent bilateral DMEK with grafts from female donors and two female patients underwent unilateral DMEK and received a graft from a male donor.

Results:

Clinically, all transplanted corneas were clear without concomitant pathology and showed a healthy endothelial layer. FISH consistently showed the presence of donor endothelial cells at the center of the graft up to the very periphery. Even in eyes with an overlapping donor Descemet membrane onto and over the host DM, the endothelial cells on the peripheral grafts were consistently of donor origin.

Conclusions:

The current study showed that the transplanted donor corneal endothelium may survive on the Descemet graft for at least four years, without any detectable evidence of host cell involvement in endothelial wound healing or donor cell replacement.

Financial Disclosure:

receives consulting fees, retainer, or contract payments from a company producing, developing or supplying the product or procedure presented