Prospective clinical evaluation of McCarey-Kaufman and organ culture cornea preservation media: 14-year follow-up

Purpose: To compare the outcome of corneal grafts preserved McCarey-Kaufman (MK) medium versus organ culture after penetrating keratoplastics. Methods: Paired corneas were stored in McCarey medium for 2-44 hours (mean 21 hours) and in organ culture (OC) for 144-240 hours (mean 192 hours). Penetrating keratoplastics were performed by 2 surgeons in 2 groups of patients with keratoconus, matched for age. Each pair was transplanted by the same surgeon using the same technique. Visual acuity, central corneal thickness, and central endothelial cell density were assessed at 166 +/- 7.8 months postoperatively. Results: Nine pairs of patients were recovered for a long-term follow-up. The mean endothelial cell densities for the MK and OC groups were 611 +/- 155 and 683 +/- 168 cells/mm(2) respectively. which were not significantly different. A first rapid cell loss rate of 2.07% and 2.52% per month and second slow of 0.78% and 0.69% per month were observed in the respective groups. Individual values of best corrected visual acuity were all the same (value 1.00) for both groups. Corneal thickness were, respectively 571 +/- 52 and 540 +/- 35 mu m and were significantly differet (P = 0.013) Conclusions: After 14 years of penetrating keratoplasties performed with corneas stored in MK versus OC, no significant differences were observed in visual acuity, endothelial cell density, and cell loss. The observed thinner grafts after OC compared with MK could not be explained.