A SENSITIVE METHOD FOR TESTING THE QUALITY OF ORGAN-CULTURE MEDIA ANDOF INDIVIDUAL MEDIUM COMPONENTS IN A CORNEA BANK

Background: It has been suggested that variations in the quality of or gan culture preservation media are responsible for variations in early -postoperative graft morphology. Spates of such variations have been o bserved repeatedly for short periods. This paper reports the results o f a series of grafts with low postoperative clearing observed during a period of 6 weeks. Simultaneously, preoperative phase-contrast micros copy evaluation of the corneal endothelium revealed that an unusually large proportion of donor corneae were unsuitable for transplantation. Methods: The corneal storage media were therefore rigorously screened , paying particular attention to specific components and properties of the medium, including L-glutamine, amphotericin B. water quality pH, and the glassware used. Possible toxic effects were identified by mean s of a sensitive growth assay performed using isolated human corneal e ndothelial cells. Results: The evaluation demonstrated that both the w ater quality and the L-glutamine which had been used for preparation o f the medium were substandard during the period in which poor clinical results were obtained. a Conclusion: It is recommended that cornea ba nks undertaking long-term organ culture use standardized protocols and carefully monitored equipment. The quality of the basal media and sup plements should be routinely checked.