Significant differences between specular microscopy and corneal bank endothelial cell counts - a pilot study.

Background: It was shown recently that endothelial cell count performed by cornea banks overestimates the real number of endothelial cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the internal quality of preclinical ECD in human donor corneas using two widely used methods for endothelial cell counting, transmitted light microscopy used in organ culture tissue bank and clinically used specular microscopy.

Methods: Twenty human donor corneas that could not be transplanted were included in this analysis.