Sun Yu, Qi Xiao-Lin, Lin Xiao, Zhang Xiao-Yu, Gao Li, Gao Hua
Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250117, Shandong Province, China.
Eye Hospital of Shandong First Medical University (Shandong Eye Hospital), Jinan 250021, Shandong Province, China.
Int J Ophthalmol. 2022 May 18;15(5):736-740. doi: 10.18240/ijo.2022.05.07. eCollection 2022.
To describe the design and clinical application of a corneal donor dehydrator which can quickly dehydrate corneas and keep its original shape.
The corneal donor material is placed on stainless steel beads with different diameters in the dehydrating box to make the cornea the same shape as the steel ball. Then, the cornea is placed inside the dehydrater for rapid dehydrating using the internal cleaning and ventilation system. Totally 83 eyes underwent deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) using corneal donor tissue preserved with corneal dehydrater, and 60 patients (60 eyes) received DALK by the same surgeon using corneal donor tissue preserved with glycerol were included in the control group. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), the thickness and transparency of the corneal buttons were recorded.
After the completion of dehydrating, all the donor corneas maintained a normal shape without any shrinkage or distortion, and the average intraoperative rehydration time was 43.3±12.1s during operation. The mean BCVA of the dehydrater group was 0.30±0.18 at 1wk and 0.32±0.16 at 1mo, which were statistically better than that of the control group (<0.001). The score of corneal buttons transparency were lower than that of the control group with statistical difference (<0.001). The thickness of corneal buttons at 1wk and at 1mo in the dehydrater group was significantly better than that of the control group respectively (<0.001). One week after operation, no corneal button turbidity or edema was observed in both groups.
The dehydrater can quickly dehydrate the corneal material in a clean and airtight environment and maintain the original shape of the corneal donor during the dehydrating process. This dehydrater is recommended for long-term high-quality preservation in areas where corneal materials cannot be used within a reasonable time period.
描述一种能快速使角膜脱水并保持其原始形状的角膜供体脱水器的设计及临床应用。
将角膜供体材料放置在脱水箱中不同直径的不锈钢珠上，使角膜与钢球形状相同。然后，将角膜置于脱水器内，利用内部清洁和通风系统进行快速脱水。共有83只眼采用经角膜脱水器保存的角膜供体组织进行了深板层角膜移植术（DALK），对照组纳入60例患者（60只眼），由同一位外科医生采用经甘油保存的角膜供体组织进行DALK。记录最佳矫正视力（BCVA）、角膜植片的厚度和透明度。
脱水完成后，所有供体角膜均保持正常形状，无任何收缩或变形，术中平均复水时间为43.3±12.1秒。脱水器组术后1周时平均BCVA为0.30±0.18，1个月时为0.32±0.16，均显著优于对照组（<0.001）。角膜植片透明度评分低于对照组，差异有统计学意义（<0.001）。脱水器组术后1周和1个月时角膜植片厚度分别显著优于对照组（<0.001）。术后1周，两组均未观察到角膜植片混浊或水肿。
该脱水器可在清洁密闭环境中快速使角膜材料脱水，并在脱水过程中保持角膜供体的原始形状。对于在合理时间内无法使用角膜材料的地区，推荐使用这种脱水器进行长期高质量保存。
