Semiautomatic assessment of endothelial density and morphology in organ-cultured corneas — potential predictors for transplantation suitability and clinical outcome?

This retrospective case study analyzed 1031 donor corneas processed at the Hamburg Eye Bank between 2012 and 2016. Researchers used semiautomatic assessment to measure endothelial cell density and morphology and correlated these with donor/cultivation data to predict transplantation suitability and clinical outcomes for 202 transplanted patients. Initial endothelial cell density was the only parameter with a certain, but low, predictive capacity for donor cornea approval (AUC = 0.655). Endothelial cell morphology lacked predictive power for approval (AUC = 0.597). The findings suggest that current endothelial density cut-off levels for transplantation approval might be too stringent and warrant long-term studies on graft survival.