Posters

Endothelial cell loss in corneal grafts from donors who sustained airbag injury or gunshot wound to the head

Poster Details

First Author: S.Palioura GREECE

Co Author(s):    F. Vingopoulos   N. Likht   C. Piedra   S. Dubovy   C. Karp        

Abstract Details

Purpose:

To compare the endothelial quality of corneal grafts derived from donors who sustained airbag injury in a motor vehicle accident (MVA) or gunshot wound (GSW) to the head with grafts from donors who died of other causes.

Setting:

The Florida Lions Eye Bank at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute

Methods:

Retrospective comparative series of 65 cornea grafts procured from 33 young donors (age, 29.60 ± 8.95) by the Florida Lions Eye Bank (Miami, FL). Cause of death was either MVA with airbag injury (n, 7), GSW to the head (n, 12) or other (n, 14).

Results:

Areas of endothelial cell loss were observed in 86% of the MVA-derived and in 93% of the GSW-derived grafts. Mean ECD was significantly lower in the 14 MVA-derived grafts (ECD, 3117+/-218 cells/mm2) and in the 27 GSW-derived grafts (ECD, 3234+/-381 cells/mm2) than in the 24 grafts from donors who died from other causes (ECD, 3511+/-312 cells/mm2, P values 0.0002 and 0.0068, respectively). There was no difference between the groups in terms of donor age, graft quality on slit lamp examination and death-to-preservation time. No primary graft failures were reported for any of the grafts.

Conclusions:

MVA- and GSW-derived grafts have lower ECD counts and more areas of endothelial cell loss compared to grafts from donors who died of other causes.

Financial Disclosure:

None