P43-A106 Eyebank stripped vs. Surgeon stripped tissue for DMEK.

During the recent years Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplsty (DMEK) has replaced penetrating keratoplasty and more or less Descemet stripping automated endothelial keraoplasty (DSAEK) as the goldstandard for the treatment of endothlial corneal diseases. Following DMEK the clinical recovery is faster and patients reach higher visual acuities with a lower risk for graft rejection. However, the technique of preparing the graft for DMEK is more demanding and less standardised than the perparation of a DSAEK graft. Therefore, the preparation may take longer and risk of a preparation failure seems higher. For this reason surgeons look for prestripped tissue for DMEK to avoid the potential inconveniences with the graft preparation. However, prestripped tissue might not always be advantageous as the graft might loose endothelial cells during storage and transportation and the surgeon is not aware of the specific properties of the graft. Advantages and disadvantages of eyebank stripped and surgeon stripped tissue will be discussed.