Thickness Profile of Donated Corneas Preserved in Optisol-GS versus Sinasol: An Ex-vivo Study

This study aimed to compare the thickness profile and the endothelial cell density (ECD) of donated corneas maintained in Optisol-GS with those preserved in Sinasol over seven days. Twenty paired donor corneas were received from the Central Eye Bank of Iran. After recording the osmolarity of each medium, one of each of the cornea pairs was preserved in either Optisol-GS or Sinasol media. Then, slit-lamp biomicroscopy and specular microscopic examinations were performed at the baseline and on day seven. Visante optical coherence tomography (V-OCT) was also performed at 1 hour (h), 24h, 72h, and one week post-preservation. The specular microscopic and V-OCT values were then compared between the two groups. The mean osmolarity of the Sinasol group was significantly less than the Optisol-GS group (296 vs. 366 mOsm/L, = 0.0008). The mean central corneal thickness at the measurement points was comparable between the two groups. However, the increase of thickness one week post-preservation in the Sinasol group was remarkably lower than those in the Optisol-GS group ( = 0.027). The mean ECD was comparable between the groups at the baseline and on day seven. However, the mean change of ECD from baseline to day seven was considerably higher in the Optisol-GS group than in the Sinasol group ( = 0.019). Corneal storage in Sinasol over seven days provides better and superior maintenance and preservation of corneal tissue deturgescence and a lower rate of ECD loss over Optisol-GS.