BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To present clinical outcomes of Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) using a newly developed donor graft inserter, the Tan EndoGlide (AngioTech, Reading, PA/Network Medical Products, North Yorkshire, UK). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Six eyes of six patients with bullous keratopathy were treated with DSAEK using the Tan EndoGlide. Intraoperative and postoperative complications, postoperative donor endothelial cell densities (ECDs), and best-corrected visual acuity were recorded. RESULTS: Five cases had no difficulties during donor graft loading into the Tan EndoGlide; however, the donor graft was folded inside-out into the Tan EndoGlide in one case, resulting in severe endothelial cell loss. All patients achieved a visual acuity of 20/63 or better at 12 months, with four patients reaching better than 20/32. Excluding the case with the graft folded inside-out, postoperative ECDs were 2,041 cells/mm(2) (mean loss: 22.9%) at 6 months and 1,973 cells/mm(2) (mean loss: 24.6%) at 12 months. CONCLUSION: In this small preliminary series, the clinical outcome with the Tan EndoGlide was comparable to or better than that achieved with the conventional technique. Additional studies using a larger number of patients are required to fully evaluate the usefulness and potential advantages of this new donor graft inserter. Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To present clinical outcomes of Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) using a newly developed donor graft inserter, the Tan EndoGlide (AngioTech, Reading, PA/Network Medical Products, North Yorkshire, UK). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Six eyes of six patients with bullous keratopathy were treated with DSAEK using the Tan EndoGlide. Intraoperative and postoperative complications, postoperative donor endothelial cell densities (ECDs), and best-corrected visual acuity were recorded. RESULTS: Five cases had no difficulties during donor graft loading into the Tan EndoGlide; however, the donor graft was folded inside-out into the Tan EndoGlide in one case, resulting in severe endothelial cell loss. All patients achieved a visual acuity of 20/63 or better at 12 months, with four patients reaching better than 20/32. Excluding the case with the graft folded inside-out, postoperative ECDs were 2,041 cells/mm(2) (mean loss: 22.9%) at 6 months and 1,973 cells/mm(2) (mean loss: 24.6%) at 12 months. CONCLUSION: In this small preliminary series, the clinical outcome with the Tan EndoGlide was comparable to or better than that achieved with the conventional technique. Additional studies using a larger number of patients are required to fully evaluate the usefulness and potential advantages of this new donor graft inserter. Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.