Quality assessment and microbiologic screening of donor corneas

Purpose: To identify possible predictors of donor corneal contamination. Methods: Relationships between eye-banking characteristics of donor corneas and surgical corneoscleral rim culture results were examined in a retrospective case-control study by using logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Of 263 donor corneal rims, microbial recovery occurred from 23 (9%), including 6 yielding Clostridium perfringens. After adjusting for outdoor temperature and death-to-preservation duration, a positive rim culture occurred more often among tissues having an acceptable but less favorable biomicroscopic rating (OR, 4.22; 95% CI, 1.27-13.98). Conclusions: This exploratory study suggests that slit-lamp assessment of corneal appearance may correlate with subsequent microbiologic results. Ensuring optimal selection and preservation of the donor cornea may contribute to the safety of eye banking.