Evaluation of Donor Corneal Endothelium after Keratoplasty.

Gil, So Yeon; Park, Chan Kee; Hahn, Tae Won

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Ophthalmological Society 2006;47(4):519-524.
Published online April 30, 2006.

Evaluation of Donor Corneal Endothelium after Keratoplasty.

So Yeon Gil, Chan Kee Park, Tae Won Hahn

¹Department of ophthalmology, Seoul Adventist Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
²Department of Ophthalmology, Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital School of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
³Apgujung St. Mary's Eye Center, Seoul, Korea. twhahn@hotmail.com

각막질환에 따른 각막이식술후 각막내피세포의 변화

길소연¹,박찬기²,한태원³

Department of ophthalmology, Seoul Adventist Hospital¹, Seoul, Korea Department of Ophthalmology, Kangnam St. Mary`s Hospital School of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea², Seoul, Korea Apgujung St. Mary‘s Eye Center³, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence: So Yeon Gil, M.D.¹

Abstract

PURPOSE
To investigate the difference in donor corneal cell changes after penetrating keratoplasty in various corneal diseases. METHODS: Subjects included 36 eyes from 35 people with at least 6 months of follow-up who had undergone penetrating keratoplasty between August 2000 and December 2002. The patients were classified into three groups based on the state of the corneal endothelium. Changes in cell density, polymorphisms, and polymegathism of the donor cornea were compared between groups. Results were analyzed by ANOVA. RESULTS: The overall corneal endothelial cell density after grafting was lower, but the differences in endothelial cell states between the recipient cases were not statistically significant. The change in corneal endothelial cell density showed a significantly higher difference (p=0.0013) when patients had either undergone a rejection episode during recovery or recurred herpetic uveitis. CONCLUSIONS: The preoperative state of the corneal endothelium may affect the survival of donor corneal endothelium after grafting. However, rejection of the transplant contributes more significantly to the survival of the donor corneal endothelium than other factors. We suggest close observation and keen therapy with respect to rejection after grafting.

Key Words: Corneal endothelial cell density;Penetrating keratoplasty;Rejection