Publications by authors named "Wees J"

Purpose: To evaluate graft survival and clinical outcomes up to 10 years after Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK).

Setting/venue: Retrospective cohort study conducted at the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery.

Methods: 750 consecutive DMEK eyes, not including the very first 25 DMEK eyes that constitute the technique learning curve, were included.

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Purpose: To evaluate the effect of graft preparation and organ-culture storage on endothelial cell density (ECD) and viability of Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) grafts.

Methods: DMEK grafts (n=27) were prepared at Amnitrans EyeBank Rotterdam from 27 corneas (15 donors) that were eligible for transplantation but could not be allocated due to the COVID-19-related cancellation of elective surgeries. Cell viability (by Calcein-AM staining) and ECD of 5 grafts originally scheduled for transplantation, were evaluated on the originally planned surgery day, whereas 22 grafts from paired donor corneas were evaluated either directly post-preparation or after 3-7 days of storage.

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Purpose: To compare the clinical outcomes after Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) for grafts prepared by the manual no-touch peeling technique and grafts prepared by a modified liquid bubble technique.

Material And Methods: For this study, 236 DMEK grafts were included that were prepared at Amnitrans EyeBank Rotterdam by experienced eye bank personnel. 132 grafts were prepared by using the 'no-touch' DMEK preparation technique and 104 grafts by using a modified liquid bubble technique.

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Purpose: To report on the occurrence of corneal guttae after Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) in eyes operated on for Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD).

Material And Methods: Case series of 10 eyes of 10 patients operated on for FECD at a tertiary referral center between 2008 and 2019. Average patient age was 61±12 years and 3 patients were female and 6 were male.

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: To evaluate the effect of graft preparation and organ-culture storage on endothelial cell density (ECD) and viability of Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) grafts.: DMEK grafts (n = 27) were prepared at Amnitrans EyeBank Rotterdam from 27 corneas (15 donors) that were eligible for transplantation but could not be allocated due to the Covid-19-related cancellation of elective surgeries. Cell viability (by Calcein-AM staining) and ECD of five grafts originally scheduled for transplantation were evaluated on the originally planned surgery day, whereas 22 grafts from paired donor corneas were evaluated either directly post-preparation or after 3-7 days of storage.

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The initial footprint of an earthquake can be extended considerably by triggering of clustered aftershocks. Such earthquake-earthquake interactions have been studied extensively for data-rich, stationary natural seismicity. Induced seismicity, however, is intrinsically inhomogeneous in time and space and may have a limited catalog of events; this may hamper the distinction between human-induced background events and triggered aftershocks.

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Purpose: To evaluate the suitability of corneas from septic donors for transplantation by analyzing the discard rate in the eye bank and the clinical outcome of Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) using organ-cultured corneal grafts from septic versus nonseptic donors.

Methods: This retrospective study included 1554 corneas of which 456 corneas (29%) were from septic and 1072 corneas (69%) from nonseptic donors [for 26 corneas (2%) sepsis status was unknown]. The clinical outcome at 6 months after DMEK was evaluated for 82 grafts (26 from septic and 56 from nonseptic donors).

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In this study, we analysed the benthic effects of two in situ fisheries disturbance experiments using a combination of side-scan sonar, high definition underwater video, sediment profile imagery, and box core sampling techniques after conventional beam trawling and box core sampling after electric pulse trawling in a southern North Sea habitat. Acoustic and optical methods visualised the morphological changes induced by experimental beam trawling, showing the flattening and homogenisation of surface sediments. Video transects found a 94% decrease in epibenthos in beam trawled sediments compared to an untrawled control site and a 74% decrease in untrawled sediments of the same transect.

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Purpose: To report the failure rate of 2 graft preparation techniques for Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) and to evaluate how to minimize graft preparation failure.

Methods: Retrospective, nonrandomized study at an eye bank specialized in graft preparation for lamellar keratoplasty. For 1416 donor corneas, the DMEK graft preparation failure rate was evaluated for 2 different techniques, technique I: "Standardized traditional technique" (n = 341) and technique II: "Standardized no-touch technique" (n = 933), and for grafts that were converted from technique II to technique I during preparation (n = 142).

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Purpose: To describe and compare 2 preparation techniques for Bowman layer (BL) grafts for use in BL transplantation.

Methods: A retrospective evaluation of the 2 methods for preparing BL grafts was performed, that is, BL graft preparation from donor globes not eligible for penetrating keratoplasty or endothelial keratoplasty (technique I, n = 36) and BL graft preparation from previously excised corneoscleral buttons (technique II, n = 36) that could not be used for PK or had been denuded of Descemet membrane and endothelium for Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty graft preparation. BL graft preparation difficulties were recorded, and the preparation failure rate was examined and compared between the techniques.

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Importance: After retrospectively evaluating the clinical outcome of 500 consecutive cases after Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK), we extended the analysis in this study by assessing the effect of donor-related parameters on endothelial cell density (ECD) decline and detachment rate in this group.

Observations: This retrospective case series included 500 cases who had undergone DMEK from October 2007 to September 2012 at the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery (NIIOS), Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Logistic regression analysis (n = 332 eyes) showed that donor age might be associated with a 3% increase in the risk for a detachment (odds ratio, 0.

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Background/aims: There is a substantial shortage of donor tissue for endothelial keratoplasty worldwide. Using two endothelial grafts of one donor cornea may potentially increase the pool of suitable donor tissue for Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK). This study evaluates the technical feasibility of obtaining two DMEK grafts with a different (semicircular) shape, but similar surface area as a 'conventional' 8-9 mm circular transplant from a single donor cornea and to evaluate the viability of these grafts stored in organ-culture medium up to 5 weeks after graft preparation.

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Anterior donor grafts (including scleral rim, without Descemet membrane) increase in thickness and become hazy upon storage in organ culture (OC) medium. Transfer of these grafts to standard dehydration media just before transplantation does not reduce their thickness to normal. Therefore, we assessed the efficacy of different media enriched with polyethylene glycol (PEG) as dehydrating agents for organ-cultured anterior donor grafts.

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Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe the ultrastructure of the host-donor interface in the eye of a recently deceased patient, who had undergone Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty.

Methods: The eye was enucleated postmortem, and after standard decontamination, the corneoscleral button was excised, cut into 4 quadrants, and processed for light and transmission electron microscopy evaluation.

Results: Transmission electron microscopy revealed close attachment of the donor's Descemet membrane to the host's stroma and projection of stromal collagen fibers into the interfacial matrix, resembling a normal "virgin" corneal architecture.

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Purpose: To study the validity of endothelial polymegethism, pleomorphism, and "poor swelling" as tissue discard parameters in the immediate postmortem evaluation of human donor corneal endothelium.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the quality of the endothelium at first and second evaluations for all processed corneas exhibiting moderate polymegethism, pleomorphism, or "poor swelling" in our eye bank over a 5-year period.

Results: Out of 2008 eyes qualifying for our study, 422 corneas (21%) showed polymegethism, pleomorphism, or poor swelling at the first tissue evaluation immediately after excision of the corneoscleral button.

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Purpose: To describe a standardized 'no-touch' harvesting technique of anterior and Descemet membrane (DM) grafts for use in deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) and Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK), which provides undamaged anterior and posterior corneal grafts.

Methods: A retrospective evaluation was performed of our standard method for harvesting DM grafts and DALK grafts (Technique I; n = 31) versus a newly designed 'no-touch' technique (Technique II; n = 31), in which a peripheral ring of trabecular meshwork tissue is left in-situ, and the DM graft is trephined on an underlying soft contact lens. Endothelial cell density (ECD) before and immediately after DM stripping was used as the main outcome parameter.

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Purpose: To report the incidence of early allograft rejection after Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK), that is, transplantation of isolated Descemet membrane with its endothelium.

Methods: The first series of 120 eyes of 105 patients operated on for Fuchs endothelial dystrophy or pseudophakic bullous keratopathy, with an average 2 years of follow-up after 9.0- to 10.

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The 5-HT(6) receptor (5-HT(6)R) has been in the spotlight for several years regarding CNS-related diseases. We set out to discover novel, neutral 5-HT(6)R antagonists to improve off-target selectivity compared to basic amine-containing scaffolds dominating the field. High-throughput screening identified the N'-(sulfonyl)pyrazoline-1-carboxamidine scaffold as a promising neutral core for starting hit-to-lead.

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Purpose: To describe various endothelial migration healing patterns after Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK), and to determine the contribution of the donor and host endothelium in the clearance of a transplanted cornea.

Design: Nonrandomized, prospective clinical study.

Methods: In a total of 150 consecutive eyes that underwent DMEK (ie, transplantation of an isolated Descemet graft, for Fuchs endothelial dystrophy), re-endothelialization patterns were studied.

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The aim of this study was to report the efficacy of adding chlorhexidine to the protocol for decontamination of human donor globes prior to excision of corneo-scleral rims for future keratoplasty procedures. In 2005, chlorhexidine was introduced by our eye bank as an additional step in the protocol for decontaminating human donor globes. After 5 years, we prospectively evaluated the number of contaminations.

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Purpose: To describe the clinical outcome of a secondary Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) to manage poor visual outcome after Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty (DSEK).

Methods: Three eyes of 3 patients that underwent DSEK for Fuchs endothelial dystrophy showed fluctuating and/or poor visual outcome ranging from 20/80 (0.25) to 20/40 (0.

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