Comparative evaluation of donor cornea preservation methods and their impact on postoperative keratoplasty outcomes

Purpose. An evaluation of the clinical outcomes of penetrating keratoplasty using donor corneas preserved in the Eusol-C hypothermic solution at 2–8 °C, compared with corneas stored under organ culture conditions at 31 °C. Materials and methods. This retrospective comparative study evaluates the clinical outcomes of penetrating keratoplasty (PK) using donor corneas stored in Eusol-C hypothermic medium at 2–8 °C versus corneas preserved by organ culture at 31 °C. The Eusol-C group comprised 43 patients; the control group (organ culture) consisted of 50 patients. Endothelial cell (EC) density, EC morphology, graft clarity, and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were assessed over a six-month follow-up period. Results and discussion. Mean storage time was 6.2 ± 2.3 days in Eusol-C and 11.2 ± 4.3 days in organ culture. No intraoperative complications were observed in either group. Graft clarity at postoperative day 1 was achieved in 81.3% of the Eusol-C group. BCVA at 6 months was 0.4 ± ± 0.25 in the Eusol-C group and 0.47 ± 0.18 in the organ culture group (p > 0.05). Graft rejection rates were comparable between groups. Conclusions. These findings demonstrate equivalent clinical outcomes with both preservation methods and confirm the suitability of Eusol-C as a corneal storage medium in eye banks operating under short preservation windows. Keywords: donor cornea; corneal preservation; Eusol-C; organ culture; endothelial cell density; penetrating keratoplasty; graft clarity; hypothermic storage

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