Clinical comparison of grafts stored in McCarey-Kaufman medium at 4 degrees C and in corneal organ culture at 31 degrees C
W. J. Rijneveld, W. H. Beekhuis, G. van Rij, B. Rinkel-van Driel and E. Pels
Cornea Service, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Twenty-eight paired human corneas were preserved in minimal essential
medium at 31 degrees C and in McCarey-Kaufman medium at 4 degrees C. These
grafts were then transplanted in pairs of patients with keratoconus who
were age matched as closely as possible. These pairs received donor corneas
from the same donor, so for each pair the donor age and time from death to
preservation were the same. Visual acuity, central corneal thickness, and
endothelial cell counts were compared. During the 1- to 2-year study
period, no statistically significant difference in visual acuity, corneal
thickness, or endothelial cell density was found between grafts stored in
minimal essential medium and those stored in McCarey-Kaufman medium.
