Sinasol versus Optisol-GS for cold preservation of human cornea: a prospective ex vivo and clinical study.

To compare ex vivo results of donor corneas maintained in Sinasol with those stored in Optisol-GS and reporting clinical outcomes of grafted Sinasol-versus Optisol-GS-stored corneas. In phase I, paired donor corneas were maintained in Sinasol or Optisol-GS. Afterward, the corneas were subjected to slit-lamp biomicroscopic and specular microscopic examinations on days 1 and 7, and then to trypan blue staining on day 7. The same examinations were performed on the corneas that were kept in Sinasol or Optisol-GS for 14 days. In phase II, the post-operative reports of 72 consecutive corneal transplantations were recorded using Sinasol- or Optisol-GS-preserved corneas. In phase I, 128 corneas from 64 donors and 59 corneas from 33 donors were investigated for 7 and 14 days, respectively. The EC indices were comparable between the groups at the measurement periods. The EC losses over 7 and 14 days were 3.7% and 19.9% in Sinasol against 4.6% and 20.8% in Optisol-GS. Although fair quality corneas were more common in Optisol-GS group after 7 (P = 0.04) and 14 days (P = 0.034), changes of stromal edema, Descemet's fold, and other quality ratings during 14 days were not different between the groups. In phase II, all the transplanted corneas were postoperatively clear with no adverse reactions. The overall results indicate that Sinasol is a safe, effective, and affordable intermediate cold storage medium for preservation of corneas.