Comparisons of Cornea Cold, a New Corneal Storage Medium, and Optisol-GS

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study compares the quality of donor corneal tissue stored in Optisol-GS and Cornea Cold. METHODS: Seventeen pairs of donor corneas were obtained from an eye bank. One of each pair was stored in Cornea Cold or Optisol-GS. Endothelial cell loss (ECL), central corneal thickness (CCT), and endothelial cell density (ECD) were measured at 7 and 21 days of storage. Qualitative metrics were evaluated by using a slit lamp. RESULTS: At days 7 and 21, there were no observed differences in qualitative corneal health of the samples. There were no statistical differences in the mean ECL at 7 and 21 days between the 2 groups (P = 0.07 and P = 0.50, respectively). At 7 days, the mean CCT was 644 ± 52 μm in the Cornea Cold group and 591 ± 64 μm in the Optisol-GS group (P = 0.001). At 21 days, CCT was 714 ± 55 μm in the Cornea Cold group and 708 ± 58 μm in the Optisol-GS group (P = 0.70). The mean ECD was not statistically different between the groups (P = 0.56 at 7 days and P = 0.14 at 21 days). CONCLUSIONS: Storage of corneal donor tissue in the Optisol-GS and Cornea Cold storage media resulted in statistically comparable ECL and ECD for up to 21 days. CCT was higher in Cornea Cold at 7 days, but this discrepancy disappeared at 21 days.